


Chasing The Sun Across The Dark Wide Space

by Saremina



Series: Shelter [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, M/M, Minor Character Death, Team Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-09
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2018-12-25 12:53:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 26,459
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12036270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saremina/pseuds/Saremina
Summary: Keith is gone, trapped in the center of the Galra Empire, and getting him back is a lot easier said than done. That doesn't mean the Paladin's aren't going to do just that.The Team Voltron side of the fic Shelter From a Cold Storm.Season 2 AU starting from The Ark of Taujeer.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story will contain minor spoilers for the plot of Shelter from a Cold Storm. You have been warned.
> 
> Going chronologically the first chapter of this covers up to chapter 6 or so of the main fic. If you don't want to be spoiled about anything at all then I'd wait until about ch 13 of that fic is posted before reading this.
> 
> I originally wrote this just to keep track of the rest of the gang, but it's a nice little story and you guys asked for it, so here it is! Yay!

“You left him to get captured?” Lance’s expression is a mix of anger and disbelief, and Shiro can’t blame him for it. He’d speak up himself, but his brain has disconnected from his mouth. He absently thinks it’s a good thing, he doubts he could keep himself from shouting at Allura.

They are all wearing a similar expressions as Lance as they stare at Allura standing there before them with her arms crossed defensively before her. She looks apologetic and a little ashamed, but it does nothing to erase what had happened.

“We risked our lives to save you, and you just abandoned him?”

“It was a mutual decision,” Allura insists again. Shiro can definitely see Keith sacrificing himself to save Allura, but he also knows how reckless Keith can get. She should have known that by now, and she should have prevented him from doing something like this.

“And now we know Zarkon was tracking him,” Allura adds. Lance throws his arms up in the air while Pidge huffs, somehow making the single breath a better expression of her opinion than words ever could.

“It doesn’t matter who Zarkon was tracking,” Shiro cuts in before anyone else can speak, his sharp voice catching everyone’s attention. “We have to go get Keith back now. We’ll worry about everything else later.”

Lance and Hunk nod in agreement, and Pidge stands a little straighter. They’re all ready to do what needs to be done to get their teammate back.

Shiro wishes Keith could see it. It would mean the world to him.

“No,” Allura says, and the silence that follows is thick and loaded. She steels herself before she speaks again. “We will do this right. We need a plan, not only for the rescue but for how to keep Zarkon from finding us again. No more rushing into action without thinking.”

She receives a chorus of protests from the Paladins, and though Shiro initially joins them he’s the first to fall silent. Allura has a point, and maybe Keith had been right when he’d protested against them rushing to Allura’s rescue without a proper plan. It had certainly left them in a bad place afterwards.

Keith would want them to have a proper plan, and a way to keep Zarkon off their backs.

“He fought Zarkon,” Shiro calls over the voices of his friends. The room quiets, and all eyes turn to Shiro.

Shiro crosses his arms. “Keith thought it was imprinting. Is something like that possible?”

"You think Keith’s living in Twilight land?” Pidge laughs, but her voice holds no amusement. Shiro still scowls at her.

“I don’t think that’s the case,” Coran cuts in before anyone can say anything else. “The Galra don’t have the higher cerebral activity required for involuntary bonding. Or imprinting, as you call it.”

Coran receives a series of bland looks, and he sighs as he clasps his hands behind his back and stands straighter.

“Psychic abilities are present only in species with extremely high cerebral brain activity, and even then their strength and manifestation varies widely. The Galra do have some unusually intuitive members in their race, or at least they did ten thousand years ago, but the evolution from that to involuntary bonding would take closer to hundreds of thousands of years.” Coran goes to full lecture mode as he speaks, and the Paladins share knowing glances even as they soak in every word.

“Is Zarkon one of these unusually intuitive people?” Shiro asks before Coran can start explaining what exactly would have to happen during that evolutionary process.

Coran’s expression turns thoughtful. “No. There was never anything to imply he is, and Alfor certainly never said anything about it. I’m sure he would’ve known about it if that was the case.”

“Is it possible he kept it a secret?” Hunk asks. “People keep secrets, right?”

“Well, that’s always a possibility, but it’s a very slim one. I’m sure there is a better explanation than that,” Coran answers, his voice steady and sure even as a dubious line appears on his brow.

“Look, I don’t want to be the one to point this out, but the Castle is old, and if Zarkon was a Paladin doesn’t he know how it works?” Pidge offers Allura and Coran an apologetic look, and though they initially look defensive they share concerned looks before Allura sighs.

“He could have designed a tracking device invisible to our sensors,” she says, her shoulders slumping slightly.

Pidge nods and turns to Hunk. “We’ll figure out a way to sweep the entire ship, just in case.”

“Yeah, we’ll get right on it,” Hunk agrees with a sharp nod. He joins Pidge as she pulls out her laptop, and Shiro can practically see their minds working on the issue already. It’s a thin comfort, but at least they’re doing something about this mess.

“But we can’t form Voltron without Keith,” Lance points out, successfully dropping everyone’s moods again. Allura looks down, her expression dark.

“We’ll need help if we want to save Keith,” Lance continues, and turns to face Shiro. “Right?”

Understanding dawns on Shiro. “The Blade of Marmora.”

“No,” Allura states in a too forceful tone. She receives confused and mildly upset looks for her trouble. “We are not putting the life of a Paladin in the hands of the Galra. We’ll rescue Keith on our own.” The finality in her voice keeps everyone quiet for a few seconds.

“Keith would’ve wanted us to go to them,” Shiro says quietly. For a moment Allura looks almost regretful, then her expression hardens and she stands as tall as she can as she stares Shiro down.

“We are down one Paladin. We cannot form Voltron. I am not willing to risk us going to meet Galra that _might_ be working against Zarkon.” Allura’s expression leaves no room for arguments, but Shiro still refuses to back down.

“We have to use every option available. We need help.”

Allura opens her mouth, her face twitching in anger, but Coran stops her. “I think this is a conversation best had after we’ve all rested a bit.”

Nobody is happy about it, but they all see the merit of Coran’s words. Allura and Shiro glare at each other for a moment longer before looking away. Nobody speaks to one another as they head to the door one by one.

 

* * *

 

Shiro wanders through the ship, unsure of where he’s heading but knowing he can’t go to sleep just yet. They should be heading to the Blade of Marmora, not chase some nonexistent tracking device or think about trying to storm Zarkon’s ship with their current assembly. They could barely escape when they still had their whole team together.

He ends up standing in front of the door to Keith’s room. Shiro sighs, his shoulders slumping, and he presses his forehead against the door. Keith won’t be there if he knocks. Keith won’t be there to save Shiro the next time he’ll need it. Shiro bangs his head against the door and closes his eyes, counting to ten slowly, calming himself to the best of abilities.

Perhaps it is time for Shiro to do the saving.

It would be a change, but Keith has been bailing Shiro out of all sorts of trouble since the day they met, and Shiro has been waiting for a chance to even the score a bit for a change. Shiro will arrange himself into situations where Keith can save him if a twelve save lead is what will make Keith happy.

He takes a deep breath and pushes himself off the door, and heads to his room. He’ll need rest if he intends to save Keith. He tells himself Keith will be fine if he catches a few hours of sleep, he’s more than capable of taking care of himself. And besides, there’s no way Zarkon tracked Keith across the universe just to kill him. He wouldn’t do that.

Shiro tells himself Zarkon has no idea what he’s gotten himself into with Keith, and the smile that grazes his face is rueful at best.

 

* * *

 

Pidge and Hunk can’t find anything that even resembles tracking technology in the ship, and Lance helpfully points out the tracking device was most likely on Keith anyways.

“But how would Zarkon even have gotten one on Keith?” Pidge asks, frowning at Lance over her laptop.

“Maybe when we were with the Olkari?” Lance suggests.

Shiro doesn’t say anything, but he can see Lance’s point. The Galra didn’t come after them until after Olkari, after all, so it would make the most sense. They would have been much better prey when they were scattered across the universe, and Shiro is sure Zarkon would have tracked Keith then if he could have.

“Did anyone consider that the best person to tell us how Zarkon did it is most likely Keith?” Hunk cuts in. “I mean, he’s with the Galra, he’s probably found out how it happened by now.”

It would make sense, and everyone else seems to agree with Hunk too. Coran looks thoughtful, and Allura frowns minutely. Shiro crosses his arms and bites his lip, trying to figure out what the best course of action would be. Lance and Pidge share a grim look.

Nobody seems to be willing to point out that they have no way of getting to Keith.

“We will fix the Castle first,” Allura declares eventually. “Once the Castle is fully operational we will decide on our next course of action.”

“We’ll need teludav lenses, and those won’t be easy to come by,” Coran says. The mood drop in the room is tangible, but Shiro doesn’t let it get to him.

“Hard to, but not impossible,” he says, receiving a nod from Coran.

“There are some places we might be able to find some.” Coran stands a little taller and gives Shiro a knowing smile.

“You want to go to a swap moon? Last time the Unilu scammed you out of everything you had,” Allura says, her voice incredulous.

“They are also our best chance of finding the lenses and be a step closer to rescuing Keith,” Coran replies, his expression turning grim.

Allura considers it for a moment before nodding, and Coran feeds the coordinates to their new destination. Despite the initial argument Allura agrees to stay behind while the others head to the swap moon, with Lance sitting in the front with Coran, much to everyone else’s displeasure.

Coran has them dress up in the silliest costumes Shiro has ever seen, and, on a mutual if silent decision, the Paladins shed their disguises the second Coran is out of their sight. Shiro makes sure everyone knows where and when they are supposed to meet up before they split up.

The place is exactly what Shiro would expect a futuristic space mall to look like, and for a moment he doesn’t feel quite so put down by their situation. He wanders around, looking at the happy people going on about their lives. He can’t believe the mall is a part of the Galra Empire. The people are too happy, everything is too _normal_ to be a part of something so evil.

Shiro walks past a multi-armed alien showing off knives, and he thinks Keith would’ve enjoyed the show. He doesn’t stop to really look at anything until he reaches a small shop that has seems to sell only plush toys. Shiro frowns, and steps in.

The creatures the toys are modeled after aren’t anything Shiro can recognize, but the concept is something so familiar he has to pick up the turnip looking toy with huge gray eyes, and study it a little closer. It’s sort of creepy and kind of cute, and Shiro smiles at it before putting it back down. He wanders through the store until he finds a plush toy that reminds him of a burgundy platypus with a fluffy edged tail and long limbs. He turns it in his hands until the shopkeeper appears by his side.

“It’s two hundred GAC.”

Shiro’s eyes snap to the otter like person by his side, and he smiles apologetically. “I don’t have any money.”

“We also trade in designs,” the shopkeeper tells him, their dark eyes wide and unblinking as they stare at Shiro.

“Designs?” Shiro asks, and clings to the platypus toy a little tighter.

“Designs help create new toys. New toys bring new customers and make more people happy.” The shopkeeper cocks their head and points Shiro to the desk at the center of the shop.

Shiro swallows, but goes to where he’s guided. The shopkeeper slips through the small opening on the bottom of the desk to get to the other side of it, and hands Shiro a round drawing pad and a thin stylus.

“Design, please,” they order.

Shiro eyes the drawing pad and the stylus suspiciously before sighing and hoping the design doesn’t have to be good. He draws the best image of a dog he can, and presents it to the shopkeeper with an uncertain smile. The shopkeeper snaps the pad from Shiro and places glasses with lenses that look like bottle bottoms on his eyes. They scrutinize the drawing for so long Shiro starts having trouble controlling his urge to fidget.

“What is this and where does it originate, and what are they known for?” The shopkeeper asks.

“Um, it’s a dog, and it originates from planet Earth. They’re known as great companions,” Shiro answers.

“This is acceptable. You may keep the keelug,” the shopkeeper declares and hides the drawing pad behind their desk.

“The what?” Shiro asks, confusion coloring his voice.

The shopkeeper points at the toy in his hands. “Keelug. Native to the Zhuva home world. Known for being fiercely protective of those they deem a part of their pack.”

Shiro smiles and thanks the shopkeeper, who hands him a bag to put the toy in. Shiro wishes them good day on his way out, and since he still has a little time he takes the long way to the rendezvous point. He thinks he’ll give the toy to Keith as a welcome back gift.

Shiro is halfway to the rendezvous point when the others come crashing down the walkway with what looks to be a cow. Shiro has a second to think that he should have known they could never go to a mall and have the trip be completely uneventful before he’s dragged along for the daring escape.

 

* * *

 

They fix the ship and open a wormhole to get as far away from the Galra as they can. Shiro doesn’t like it, even if he goes along with the plan. Getting further from Keith feels like betrayal, even if he knows it’s what Keith would want them to do. They need the distance to safely regroup and decide what to do next.

It’s been days since they lost Keith, and every passing second feels too long.

They have been sitting in the empty part of space for hours now, doing nothing even though the ship is now operational, and no one has dared to break the silence. Hunk had left for the kitchen, saying something about having real milk to cook with as he went. Pidge had immersed herself in her laptop, and last Shiro had checked she’d been reading the files they had on the Galra Central Command.

Lance had disappeared without a word. Shiro doesn’t intend to go find him, but the heavy silence on the bridge starts getting to his nerves and he heads for the training deck. He stops at the doors, a little surprised to see Lance already there. Lance looks up from where he’s sitting on the floor, and he offers Shiro a weak smile and a wave of his hand.

“I thought I’d practice for when we go get Keith back,” Lance explains as Shiro approaches him.

“I could use a sparring partner,” Shiro offers.

Lance shrugs and looks down on his hands. “I’m not as good as Keith.”

Shiro does his best not to sigh. He’s painfully aware of Lance’s competition with Keith, and sometimes he hates how Keith’s nature makes him go along with it if Lance pushes him the right way. He’s tried to tell both of them that they don’t have to be good at the same things, and that not everything needs to be a competition. He’s doubts either one of them listens to his reasoning.

“I’ll teach you if you want,” Shiro offers, and to his relief Lance looks up with a small, hopeful smile.

“I’d like that,” Lance replies and pushes himself to his feet.

Shiro smiles briefly, and leads Lance to the center of the room. They start with some basic forms before moving to actual sparring. Shiro doesn’t exactly go easy on Lance, but he does make sure to match his skill level. Lance learns quickly, and even though it takes him a while to get the hang of applying his new knowledge in practice he gets there eventually. Shiro still makes a point of telling him to continue practicing.

“You’re a good student,” Shiro says when they’re both sitting on the floor, out of breath and their muscles aching comfortably.

Lance grins. “Thanks. You’re a great teacher.”

Shiro shrugs, and decides it’s probably for the best if he doesn’t tell Lance that half of the things he knows he learned from Keith. They take their time catching their breaths before heading to the showers. Shiro hopes Lance feels a little better now.

“I’ll see you in the kitchen?” Shiro asks, and Lance nods in return. He waves Shiro a quick goodbye as he heads to his room, and Shiro watches him disappear around the corner before heading to the kitchen to see what Hunk has cooked them this time.

It turns out to be pancakes with pink whipped cream, and though they don’t taste quite like the ones at home no one complains. The atmosphere in the room goes from forced lightness to something more genuine over time, though a dark cloud keeps hanging over them. Nobody can help but notice the empty chair that Keith had claimed as his own.

Allura is the last to join the group, but rather than sit down by the table she stays at the door, her expression solemn and her pose straight. It catches everyone’s attention, and the room falls quiet. Shiro places his fork on his plate and sits up as he waits for Allura to say or do something.

“I have thought about it, and the decisions we make should be something we all agree on. We can’t free Keith without Voltron, and we do need help. If you all think we should go meet with the Blade of Marmora then that’s what we’ll do. I know it’s what Keith would have wanted,” Allura says, sounding every bit of the princess she is. Shiro smiles softly before nodding, and Allura’s expression softens minutely.

“Let’s go, then,” Pidge says and springs up from her seat, with Hank and Lance in tow. Coran rushes after them, but Shiro takes his time walking up to Allura. He stops by her side and touches her elbow gently, and she offers him a hesitant smile.

“Thank you,” Shiro says.

Allura looks away. “We should be going before the others grow restless.”

Shiro nods, and leads the way to the bridge. Everyone else has already taken their places, and they’re practically vibrating with anxious energy. Nobody knows what they should expect, and the journey to the base seems to take forever and and not long enough. They are all acutely aware of what’s at stake.

When they see exactly where the base is located they take a moment to discuss their options. Allura is hesitant to go to such a dangerous location, but they know they need all the help they can get if they want Keith back. The situation doesn’t get any better when only two of them are allowed to enter, and they realize the best Lion for the trip to the base is out of commission.

Shiro ends up taking Lance with him, and despite Lance’s insistence that his Lion can survive the trip they take the Black Lion. Shiro makes Lance swear he behaves and stays calm, and that he lets Shiro do the talking until they’re sure they know what they’re dealing with.

“I know what’s at stake,” Lance snaps, and Shiro shuts up.

Lance sighs, his shoulders slumping. “You know, if we were here under any other circumstances I’d be excited to see what the base looks like.”

Shiro sets his jaw, hating Zarkon just a little bit more for it.

The Blade of Marmora isn’t what Shiro expected, and he keeps a wary eye on the Galra as he introduces himself and Lance. Kolivan studies them closely, and though Shiro doesn’t enjoy it he stays still and keeps his expression calm and open. Lance isn’t quite so good at it, but he keeps quiet even as he glances back at the Galra behind them.

“One of you was captured by the Empire,” Kolivan states, catching Shiro’s attention immediately. Lance’s eyes snap to him too, and though he takes in a sharp breath and opens his mouth he remains silent.

“How do you know that?” Shiro asks, making sure his voice remains calm and controlled.

“We have agents in the Central Command,” Kolivan replies.

Shiro and Lance share a quick glance before turning back to face Kolivan.

“We would like to propose an alliance.”

 

* * *

 

Kolivan is initially wary of an alliance, but he comes around with a little coaxing, and to Shiro’s relief he agrees to let them know if they hear anymore news of Keith. So far all they have is that Keith has been taken to the Central Command, and that he’s not in immediate danger of dying.

“My agents are not going to risk their lives for your Paladin,” Kolivan says when Shiro asks if they can get a message to Keith, or at least keep a close eye on and let the others know how he’s doing.

“We need Keith to form Voltron. This isn’t just about him being our friend,” Shiro insists, taking a defiant step closer to Kolivan.

Kolivan regards him with a contemplative frown, and Shiro stands a little taller. “I will tell our agents to include information they might acquire on your friend on their reports, but I will not order them to risk their lives for him. Our operation has been in place for too long, and we cannot jeopardize it,” Kolivan offers eventually.

It’s not much of a compromise, but Shiro knows it’s the best he’ll get now. “Thank you,” he says just to be polite and to stay in Kolivan’s good side, if the man has one.

Kolivan inclines his head and turns away from Shiro.

Shiro takes the dismissal as it is, and returns to Lance studying the agents of the Blade from a safe distance. His attention snaps to Shiro when he approaches, and he raises a questioning eyebrow. Shiro shrugs.

“They’re not going to risk their agents for Keith, but if they hear anything they’ll let us know,” Shiro says, his voice low, and Lance’s expression darkens.

Shiro leans on the wall next to Lance and crosses his arms. There’s nothing left for them to do but to wait for their next opportunity to return to the Castle.

“Did you see the one with the tail?” Lance asks, his voice a loud hush. Shiro frowns at him and glances around the room to make sure they’re not being listened to.

“Antok. If you want to know about the tail you’ll have to ask him about it,” Shiro replies, making sure his own voice is appropriately quiet.

Lance makes a face, and slumps on the ground. Shiro keeps an eye on him and tries to relax a little. They’ll be taking Kolivan with them to meet Allura, and though Shiro is happy things went smoothly he’s not thrilled about having a Galra in the Black Lion. The last time that happened Zarkon was still a Paladin.

Shiro tries not to shudder. He doesn’t want to think about who the original Black Paladin was. He doesn’t want to consider the possibility that Black might want to go back to Zarkon, no matter how much Black assures Shiro that’s not the case.

Shiro sighs and lets himself slide to the ground.

 

* * *

 

It doesn’t take long for them to learn how to work together, and Allura and Kolivan prove to be a good pair when it comes to making decisions.

They share the information they have, and Kolivan promises to keep the Paladins informed about Keith. They don’t learn much, except that Keith is alive, and that he seemed healthy when Kolivan’s agents had seen him. It doesn’t ease Shiro’s mind much, and when Allura says Zarkon is most likely trying to manipulate Keith a part of Shiro’s heart breaks.

It doesn’t take long for the Paladins to realize how much they need all five of them for their team to truly work. Nobody mentions it out loud, but there’s a darkness to everyone’s expressions. Coran keeps trying to lift the mood, but even his upbeat attitude falls flat. He doesn't keep it up for long, and though Shiro doesn’t exactly miss the forced happiness he feels bad for Coran for having to give it up.

He adds it to the list of things Zarkon has taken from them.

The Blade of Marmora help when they can, but they like to stick to the shadows, and Shiro and Allura can’t convince them to step out into the light. Kolivan says they have too many people undercover in the Empire, and if the Blade were to make an outright attack on Zarkon those people and their families would be the first to die.

Shiro respects it, even if he doesn’t enjoy it, and the invaluable information the Blade of Marmora is able to provide dulls the worst sting of the disappointment.

Shiro tells himself Keith would want them to be smart about their actions. It makes their decision to put their plans to rescue Keith until they’re sure they can do it on hold sting a little less, and Shiro focuses on keeping what’s left of his team together.

Allura joins them on their missions when the need rises, and she proves to be a great addition to the team, even if it takes everyone a few missions to get used to her presence on the ground rather than providing back up in the Castle.

Shiro doesn’t let himself think about how they might never get to see how Keith would fit into the team’s new dynamics.

 

* * *

 

“One of Haggar’s most trusted druids is visiting this station,” Kolivan says as he pulls up an image of three moons circling around a dead planet.

“So?” Pidge asks.

Shiro glances at her. She’s been increasingly prone to snapping at people, and her mood is constantly sour. Shiro suspects losing Keith has been an unwelcome reminder of what happened to her family.

Kolivan isn’t phased by Pidge’s attitude. “The druids use a separate computer system from the rest of the empire. All the knowledge they hold is stored on that system, and it can only be accessed from terminals that the druids have activated. Depending on their level of access the information they carry with them varies widely. This druid is likely to have access to most of Haggar’s projects, as well as any files they might have on your friend.”

Pidge frowns, and after staring at the image of the station for a few seconds longer she pulls out her laptop and starts typing away.

“So how do we get into that station?” Shiro asks.

“Two of you will go in, any more and you will risk detection. The rest of you will cause a disturbance with the team scouting the planet. We believe they are attempting to build something there, but we are not sure what it is,” Kolivan replies.

“I’ll go,” Pidge declares immediately.

Shiro nods. “I’ll come with you.” He waves his mechanical hand when Pidge looks up to him. She gives him a sharp nod, and returns her attention to the laptop.

Kolivan inclines his head. “We should move fast. The druids rarely stay away from Haggar for long.”

“Everyone else get ready to go on the planet,” Allura says.

They take their places, and Kolivan stands back when Allura opens up a wormhole to their new destination.

Shiro takes a deep breath and steels himself. He hates facing the druids, they always remind him of his time with the Galra, but he knows what he has to do. He just hopes he won’t freeze if he faces a druid again.

 

* * *

 

The station is manned mostly by sentries, and Shiro guides Pidge around them. They move at the same pace here than every other ship, and it’s all Shiro needs to pick up on their patterns. They make their way to where they can safely tap into the systems, at least according to Kolivan’s intel.

Pidge is tense, but Shiro doesn’t worry about it. He knows she can handle this, probably better than most would. Shiro is far more worried about the others on the planet side. They had no way of telling what they would be walking into, but Kolivan had promised to back them up if the need arose. It makes things a little easier.

“This way,” Pidge whispers and points down the empty hallway.

They sprint to the next intersection and up another hallway, and finally they reach their destination. Shiro opens the door, and once inside he lets Pidge operate his hand in any way she needs to. It doesn’t take her long to hook her laptop up to the Galra computers, and Shiro leaves her to do her thing while he stands guard.

“This isn’t going to be as fast as I hoped. This second system is way better guarded. If I didn’t know better I’d say it’s not entirely Galran,” Pidge says, sounding annoyed and impressed at the same time.

“Maybe it’s not,” Shiro replies, and when Pidge raises a dubious eyebrow at him he shrugs. “You saw the mall. There’s bound to be civilizations that are friendly with the Galra.”

“They’re evil,” Pidge shoots back.

“That doesn’t mean some people won’t align themselves with them. Ten thousand years is a long time. Being under Galra rule is probably all some people know, and there’s no way Zarkon can keep as much of space as he’s conquered enslaved. Some of those planets are definitely not fighting against him.” Shiro frowns at the thought, but there’s nothing he can do to change the fact.

“Still,” Pidge mutters, and focuses on her screen again.

They’re in luck. Pidge cracks the security, and she smirks as she starts downloading the files.

Everything is going perfectly. Maybe a little too perfectly. Shiro tenses, instinctively readying for a fight.

“Quiznak!” Pidge’s voice gets Shiro to swirl around. She’s tapping away on her laptop, a worried frown on her face. “They know we’re here,” she explains without looking up.

“Then we have to go,” Shiro says.

“Just a second. I’ve almost got it.”

Shiro glances from Pidge to the door, deciding to give her a moment longer. When he hears the nearing footsteps he decides it’s been long enough. Pidge agrees, and she packs her things before hurrying out of the room with Shiro.

They rush down the hallway, and Shiro takes out the sentry rounding the corner before it can react. Pidge takes down its pair, and Shiro flashes her a proud grin before grabbing her arm and pulling her down the hallway.

The druid appears out of thin air.

Shiro and Pidge halt immediately, and Shiro pushes Pidge behind him. Nothing happens for a small eternity, then the druid raises their hand and the hallway flashes with bright, purple light. Shiro pulls Pidge into a corner before they get hit.

“We’ve been made,” he tells the rest of their team through the comms. “We’re going to need to leave now.”

“Got it. We’re returning to the Castle. If you are not there when we arrive we’ll come and get you,” Allura promises. Shiro thanks her before giving his surroundings his full focus.

“The druid’s gone,” Pidge says, peeking around the corner to see where the druid disappeared.

“Keep an eye out. They can appear from anywhere,” Shiro replies, directing his attention to the other end of the hallway. When they don’t spot the druid again they continue down the hallway, acutely aware that they are still somewhere in there, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Shiro knows staying still is worse than moving, they can’t stay cornered in one spot.

The druid appears again without a warning, and this time Pidge yanks Shiro forward. They run as fast as they can to get away from the magical lighting rushing after them. They barely round the corner before the lightning hits the wall, tearing through it like it’s not even there.

“This way.” Pidge grabs Shiro’s arm and pulls him with her.

Shiro trusts her to know where they are going, she’s the one with the map, after all. The druid is still after them, and Shiro focuses on making sure they aren't about to get hit with magic.

The Galra guard appearing around the corner forces them to stop. Shiro swirls around, but the druid is standing right behind them.

They’re trapped.

Shiro can’t breathe. He’s back in the Arena. He’s being tied to a table and they are going to hurt him. They are going to force him to fight for his life.

“Shiro!”

The druid is impossibly tall. Were they that tall before? It’s like they're sucking the light and oxygen from the hallway.

Shiro’s world tilts to the left, and he hits the ground hard.

“You okay?” Pidge’s voice breaks through the haze in his mind, and he nods. He looks up to Pidge’s worried face, and he’s about to tell her he's fine now when the Galra guard appears above them, aiming his weapon at them  with a victorious gleam in his eyes.

Shiro rolls them out of the way before they get shot, and readies for a counter strike. To his shock Pidge gets there first. She grabs the sword from the guard's belt and drives it through his gut in one fast motion. Shiro’s jaw drops, and for a moment he forgets all about the danger they were in.

When he remembers where they are the druid has disappeared again, and the Galra guard is kneeling on the floor, grasping at the sword like he can’t quite believe it’s there. Shiro moves before he can truly think what he’s doing, and pulls the sword out of the guard’s gut and slices his throat open. Better to kill him than let him live and tell Zarkon what he saw.

Shiro and Pidge share a wide eyed look before bolting down the hallway without a word. They reach the Green Lion without another problem. Shiro doesn’t say anything about it, but he chews his lip and frowns as Pidge flies them away from the station.

“That was too easy,” she says when they’re at a safe distance. The Castle appears in front of them before Shiro can do more than nod his agreement.

 

* * *

 

Pidge sets up her computer to decrypting the files she’d downloaded while Shiro lets everyone else know what happened.

“Do you think they knew you were there?” Hunk asks.

“I don’t know. It did feel like they let us escape. The druid could’ve had us when we were distracted by the guard,” Shiro replies. It doesn’t sit well with anybody, but they can’t be sure of what happened so there’s not much they can do about it.

“I’ll see if my agents know if you were expected,” Kolivan says eventually.

“Thank you.” Allura doesn’t exactly smile at him, but her expression does grow a little softer around the edges as she turns to face Kolivan.

Shiro claims he needs rest and walks away without waiting for a reply. He can feel the others stare after him, but he ignores it.

It takes him a while to make a decision, but he stops halfway to his room and goes to find Pidge. Someone should make sure she’s alright.

Shiro finds her huddled in front of her computer, staring at the screen and watching her decryption program work on the files she’d downloaded. She doesn’t acknowledge Shiro’s presence.

Shiro walks closer to her, crossing his arms and clearing his throat when he decides he’s close enough.

“I’m fine,” Pidge says without taking her eyes off the screen.

Shiro smiles, but it feels foreign on his face. “You put a sword through someone. I just wanted to see if you needed to talk about it.”

Pidge’s shoulders are tense. She stays quiet, and Shiro wants to walk up to her and hug her or shake her, he’s not entirely sure which. He doesn’t want to see her fall into that tempting hole of denial and anger. He’s been there, and he knows how hard it is to climb out of there.

“Well, maybe I need to talk,” Shiro says.

Pidge shrugs, but she glances over her shoulder and inclines her head minutely. Shiro takes a deep breath and closes the distance between them. He hunches on the floor, and looks at the computer screen. He’s not sure what he should say.

“I know everyone expects me to be a certain way. I get why you think I wouldn’t be okay after what happened, but I accepted the fact that I might have to do bad things when we started this whole thing. The Empire has my family. I have to be ready to do whatever it takes to get them back,” Pidge says eventually.

Shiro nods slowly, and considers her words. “I never doubted that you couldn’t deal with it intellectually, but thinking about killing someone and actually doing it are two very different things. Trust me, I’ve been there.”

Pidge chews her lip and frowns at the computer. Shiro gives her all the time she needs, and focuses on making sure he does nothing to inadvertently push Pidge to talking before she’s ready.

“I don’t know how I feel,” Pidge admits quietly. “I know I had to do what I did, and I was fully prepared to do it. I just... I don’t feel anything.”

“Let me know when you do, okay? Matt would have my head if I let you crash on your own,” Shiro replies, and smiles when Pidge huffs.

“Promise,” she says, and turns to return Shiro’s smile. She seems a bit more at ease, and that’s all Shiro could have hoped for.

“You want company or should I go?” Shiro asks.

Pidge shrugs. “You can stay.”

Shiro nods and settles on his spot, preparing for a long night of waiting.

 

* * *

 

Kolivan has to leave on Blade business before Pidge has fully decrypted the data, and after a brief conversation they decide to see what’s on the files without him. Pidge says they can always show Kolivan what they find later.

Their hopes for any worthwhile information drop as they scroll through page after page of old shipping logs and decommissioned routes. Shiro grows more and more convinced the Galra knew they were coming, though he has no idea how that was possible. He doesn’t think anyone from the Blade of Marmora tipped the Galra off.

When they see they had only managed to steal four of the druid’s files their moods drop even further. Shiro had hoped they’d gotten a little more.

They all take note when they see what looks to be a part of a design of some kind, and Hunk promises he’ll try to make sense of it later. the list of random, seemingly unconnected words make no sense to anyone, though Pidge thinks she can create an algorithm to track any possible patterns in the words. The last two files are a message, and its attachment.

“What’s that word?” Hunk asks and points at the strange word none of them can read or pronounce.

“Shzi,” Coran replies, “means a specific shade of red in Galran. It’s a shade their eyes can perceive, along with a few other species, but we Alteans couldn’t. I once heard it described as the specific shade of the desert sand in the southern most edge of the Citadel when the Sun was setting in the late summer.”

“So it means red,” Shiro cuts in. “Could it be a reference to Keith? He’s the Red Paladin.”

“It could be,” Allura agrees, her eyes brightening as she moves closer to the screen.

“Well, let’s see it then,” Lance says.

Shiro’s breath gets stuck in his throat when Pidge opens the file, and the world seems to still and tilt violently at the same time when they see that the file is indeed about Keith.

“What does it say?” Hunk asks, turning to look at Pidge with expectant eyes.

“I’m running the translator on it. Give it a tick,” Pidge replies, her voice as tense as the set of her shoulders.

“It seems to be just basic medical records,” she continues as the translation comes along.

“Why would the Galra need medical records on Keith?” Lance asks, crossing his arms as a worried frown falls on his face.

“They did the same with all the prisoners when I was there. They wanted to know how to keep us alive until they wanted us dead,” Shiro replies, his voice dark.

“Well, according to this Keith was treated for injuries when he was taken to the Central Command, nothing major, but apparently he put up a fight,” Pidge says. Shiro’s lips quirk up in a proud smile.

“They also treated him for, um, a Skovorohi bite?” Pidge looks up from her screen to Coran and Allura, who don’t look happy about the news.

“The Skovorohi are a vicious race with very sharp teeth, and they carry several harmful bacteria in their mouths. They are also geniuses when it comes to turbines,” Coran says.

“This says Keith was given a vaccine against that,” Pidge says, and the air in the room is suddenly just a little bit easier to breathe, up until the point Pidge frowns. “He got really sick from it though. They had to do a lot of tests to-, oh.” Pidge bites her lip and looks away from the screen.

“What?” Lance leans over Pidge’s shoulder and stares at the screen with a deep frown, only for his eyes to widen in shock when he sees what Pidge saw.

Everyone but Shiro hurries to see what’s going on as well, their reactions a mixture of shock and dismay. Allura’s eyes darken as she takes in whatever is on the screen, and she leaves the room without a word.

Shiro doesn’t want to see what’s going on. He doesn’t want to know if Keith has died, or been injured in some irreversible way. He doesn’t want to know about it, but he knows he has to. He does his best to keep his breathing under control as he slowly inches closer to the others. Lance and Coran move out of his way with cautious looks thrown his way.

Shiro swallows.

He can’t understand most of what he’s seeing, but the last lines on the page catch his attention, and he feels frozen.

_In the future the Subject’s genetic makeup must be taken into account during treatment. Further testing of the Subject’s physiological and psychological attributes must be conducted in order to understand how much the Galra markers in the Subject’s blood affect him._

_Following the Emperor's orders these tests must be done without informing the Subject of the findings. A suitable reason for testing must be found._

_Physical labor a possibility?_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay chapter two is finally here!
> 
> The amount of reworking I did with this was insane but it's gonna pay off and that's what matters in the end. Right?

Shiro doesn’t understand why Allura is so angry about the possibility of Keith having Galra blood in him.

It doesn’t change anything and, besides Lance, the others agree with him, and while Lance has a bit more trouble accepting the possibility even he doesn’t take it quite as bad as Allura does.

“It might not even be true,” Shiro says. “We’ve already established that the whole mission to that station was suspicious at best. The Empire might be trying to feed us false information.”

“I know that,” Allura snaps. She stops, her expression shifting from anger to regret before a hard mask falls over her face. “But we must also consider the possibility that it’s true.”

“That doesn’t really change anything, though,” Hunk pipes in. “We’ve still gotta rescue Keith. He’s one of us.”

Allura frowns as the Paladins nod their agreement to Hunk’s words.

Shiro frowns back at her. “We are not leaving Keith with Zarkon. That’s not debatable,” he says slowly before Allura can open her mouth.

“I wasn’t going to suggest we leave him. I just think we need to be careful about this. If Keith is Galra that makes it easier for Zarkon to get into his head and turn him against us,” Allura replies, her voice even.

“Keith would never do that.” Shiro’s frown deepens. There’s no way Keith would ever turn against them.

“You don’t know Zarkon,” Allura says, her voice as dark as her expression.

“But I know Keith. We’re going to get him back, and we’re going to figure out how to do that right now,” Shiro replies, taking a step closer to Allura.

“I’m with Shiro,” Pidge says, eliciting agreeing sounds from Lance and Hunk.

“And how are we going to do that? We can’t rescue Keith from Zarkon without Voltron, and we can’t form Voltron without Keith. And the Blade of Marmora can help us only so far.” Allura looks like she’s resisting the urge to throw her arms in the air.

Nobody has a response for her, but Shiro knows what they are all thinking. They do need Voltron if they intend to take on Zarkon, and they need Voltron that’s better than the last time, more refined and skilled. They need to better their team, and they need to get Keith out of Zarkon’s grasp as soon as possible.

“Then we form Voltron,” Shiro says, even if the words taste sour in his mouth.

Everyone looks at him like he’s lost his mind, and Shiro feels like he deserves it. He knows how much being a Paladin means to Keith, even if Keith doesn’t show it.

“Someone else will pilot the Red Lion until we get Keith back, and this time we make sure we’re ready to take on Zarkon.” Shiro forces himself to face the others. He hates what he’s suggesting, but he knows it’s the right thing to do.

He just hopes Keith will forgive him.

“Shiro’s right,” Allura sighs, and Coran nods slowly in agreement. “We will all have to try to prove our worth to the Red Lion. If the Lion doesn’t accept any of us then we’ll discuss looking for a pilot elsewhere,” she continues.

A solemn silence falls on the bridge. They don’t want to do this, but they also know it’s their best and possibly only chance of rescuing Keith. Shiro swallows down the lump in his throat. He tells himself Keith will understand, that it’s not the betrayal it feels like.

They have to do this.

“I guess I’ll go first,” Allura says quietly when the silence around them becomes oppressive, and she walks out the room with her head held high. Shiro still sees the sadness in her eyes as she passes him.

Shiro sighs. “Come on.” He nods his head towards the door and follows Allura, his steps subdued, and after a moment the others follow him one by one.

 

* * *

 

The Red Lion refuses to accept any of them, and though Shiro knows it isn’t a good thing he can’t help but feel a little glad about it. She’s Keith’s Lion, and as long as no one else pilots Red that will continue to be the case.

“Well this sucks,” Pidge sighs, and Hunk nods his agreement.

Allura crosses her arms. “We will figure something out. For now we’ll continue as we are,” she says, receiving no arguments.

They are all tired, but not the kind of tired that will disappear with a few hours of sleep and a day of lounging around.

Shiro still suggests everyone rests for a bit.

He doesn’t take his own advice, instead he heads to the training deck and works through the programs until his body is screaming for him to stop. It reminds him of his time in the Arena, and he swears he will personally murder Zarkon if he has forced Keith to fight there too.

He doesn’t feel better, but it makes him tired enough for him to think he might be able to sleep for a few hours.

Maybe he’s experiencing what Keith must have felt like when he was captured by the Galra. Shiro takes a deep breath and heads to the showers before going to bed. He doesn’t fall asleep easily, and when he does it’s fitful at best.

 

* * *

 

Shiro keeps seeing Keith standing alone in the middle of the Arena, surrounded by a mass of faceless Galra, waiting for his opponent to come and kill him.

Shiro steps through the gates and joins Keith in the Arena, his weapon heavy in his hands. He doesn’t want to hurt Keith.

The too familiar uproar of the audience deafens Shiro, and though he can see Keith is speaking he can’t hear a word he’s saying.

Shiro jolts awake, his eyes wide and his breath coming in short, fast bursts as he reorients himself.

 

* * *

 

“Allura isn’t okay with a Galra piloting a Lion,” Pidge says with a frustrated sigh.

“I’m just saying, they’re pretty good, and they know stuff,” Hunk insists, but they all know there’s no way they can convince Allura to allow them to have a member of the Blade pilot the Red Lion.

“We could ask the Olkari for help,” Pidge suggests and glances at Shiro for support.

"That might work. Put it down on the list,” Shiro agrees, and Pidge jots the idea down on her too short list she decided to make to keep track of their ideas and plans.

“Maybe we could raid another station or something,” Lance says, and Pidge nods and writes it down too.

They lapse into a thoughtful silence, having gone through most of their options for future actions already. Shiro doesn’t stop them from trying to come up with more options though, they have nothing else to do at the moment, and it’s a good distraction for everyone.

And, if they’re lucky, they will come up with something worthwhile.

The silence is broken when Kolivan enters the room, and though they are more or less used to having Galra around every now and again it still catches them off guard. If Kolivan is bothered by the brief moment of anxious tenseness in the air he doesn’t show it.

“You’ve got news on Keith?” Shiro asks, trying desperately to keep his voice neutral. He wants to hear Keith is alright, but he fears Kolivan will tell them Keith has died, or worse.

Kolivan inclines his head. “He is healthy and alive. The newest report says he has been assisting a maintenance team. From what we know, the team is not going to be a danger to your friend.”

Shiro breathes a little easier as the tension in the room eases.

“Why’d they make Keith work?” Lance asks.

Kolivan takes a slow breath, all attention on him. ”If they wish to test him having him work is a good cover.”

“Yeah, because they need a reason to experiment on people,” Pidge says, her voice dark.

Shiro spares her a concerned glance. He knows she’s worried about her family, and he’s sorry that everyone is more concerned about Keith than the Holts at the moment. He’ll have to make sure she knows they haven’t been forgotten, even if they are focusing on someone else for now.

“They do if they do not want to alert your friend to the real reason of the tests,” Kolivan replies, unfazed by her tone.

“Any chance your sources know how Zarkon tracked Keith?” Hunk asks.

Kolivan looks almost apologetic. “No. Our best guess is a tracking device of some sort, unless you can tell us something that might have caused this.”

“Coran said you guys have psychic abilities,” Shiro starts, catching Kolivan’s bemused attention. “His knowledge of your species is ten thousand years old and Keith thought that was how Zarkon tracked us. Through accidental bonding or something. And if Keith’s got Galra blood then wouldn’t that change things and make it more likely?”

Kolivan shakes his head. “We don’t have the ability to spontaneously bond with others. Some of us are merely more perceptive than others, sometimes to an almost unnatural level, though it is said that Zarkon’s witch chooses her druids from those people. Apparently they have an aptitude for manipulating quintessence.”

Kolivan stops and frowns, before continuing, “individuals with high levels of intuitive skills are present in almost all species, most likely in yours too. They are usually good at reading people or situations, or they are natural experts at certain fields.”

“Keith’s great at combat. Like, really great,” Hunk pipes in.

Kolivan gives the impression of shrugging without actually moving. “Like I said, intuitive people are present in nearly every species. We merely have a way of keeping track of them.”

“So how the hell did they track Keith?” Lance slumps against the cushions with an annoyed huff. No one has a reply for him.

Shiro looks down. He wishes for an easy answer for an impossible problem, and he can’t even get a complicated one. He frowns, biting his lip and hugging his arms around himself briefly before letting out a breath and facing his friends.

“Zarkon can’t track Keith if he’s not alive,” he starts. The air in the room becomes electric, and all eyes turn to him. Shiro sits a little straighter. “We’re going to form Voltron, and then we’re going to kill Zarkon.”

Shiro turns his eyes to Kolivan. “Your agents can get Keith out of there, right?”

Kolivan inclines his head in agreement. “It is possible with careful planning.”

Shiro nods. He’s sure they can come up with a plan that will be accepted by all.

“Okay, so... Assuming we have Voltron. How do we get to Zarkon?” Pidge asks.

Shiro looks around the group with a raised eyebrow, and slowly they begin to share ideas. Kolivan remains with them, helping whenever he can and guiding them away from ideas that wouldn’t be manageable to his agents in the Central Command.

 

* * *

 

It happens after a mission gone bad, while Hunk is in the pod healing a burn.

Lance disappears and no one sees him for hours. Shiro worries he blames himself for Hunk getting hurt, and if he wasn’t so busy arguing with Allura and Kolivan about what went wrong he’d go find him.

Eventually the argument breaks up, and Kolivan returns to his people while Allura mutters something about needing some time alone.

When Shiro heads out to find Lance he catches sight of Pidge, and he decides she needs him more in that moment. He stays with her until she declares she wants to sleep. Shiro is in no mood to comfort someone else, and he wanders around the ship until he feels better. He’ll be more helpful to Lance if he’s not spending half of his energy in keeping himself in check.

As morning approaches Lance seeks Shiro out, looking tired and calmer than he has in a long time.

“I think you guys are right. This competition Keith and I are in is stupid, and maybe it’s mostly in my head. It got Hunk hurt because I was trying to be better than Keith even when he’s not around, and I don’t want that to happen again.”

Shiro smiles, genuinely happy and proud of Lance. “That’s good to hear. Took you long enough to figure that out, though.”

Lance runs a hand through his hair. “Well, Allura helped.”

The next time Lance tries to pilot Blue he ends up having to take Red out instead, and Shiro is grateful Keith isn’t there to see the first few times Lance pilots the Lion.

It takes a few days longer for Blue to accept Allura.

 

* * *

 

Forming Voltron with their new team is a lot easier said than done.

It takes them a few tries to manage it, and they don’t work as smoothly as they used to. Shiro butts heads with Allura more often than not, and  Lance is the complete opposite of Keith. It leads to Allura acting more like his second in command than Lance does, which makes Lance pout and Shiro constantly telling him to act more maturely, and reminding Allura of her place, which to another argument between them.

It doesn’t help that they can’t form the sword without Keith’s bayard.

“We need to stop fooling around,” Shiro snaps after a particularly grating mission, and his teammates have the sense to look chastised.

“We have to be able to work as a team. I know we all want Keith back, and that this situation is less than ideal for us to start mixing things up, but we need to get a grip and be smart about this,” Shiro continues, making sure his voice is more calm and leader like.

“That would be smart,” Kolivan says. He’s leaning on the wall behind everyone, so they have to turn around to throw a collective glare at him.

Kolivan ignores them. “There is a small outpost that you could take. It’s heavily monitored with cameras and security systems, but I doubt that would be much of a challenge for Voltron.”

They consider it, and eventually they all agree it’s probably a good idea for them to try it out. If nothing else they’ll get to work on their teamwork.

“Can you tell us more about the base?” Allura asks, and Kolivan inclines his head before sharing the knowledge he has.

It takes them a while, but they come up with a plan of attack. According to Kolivan there’s nothing of interest in the base, so they don’t intend to stay and dig around for information. It’s going to be a simple base elimination mission, nothing more.

“Antok will take a team to get anything that might be of value from the base. You will make him an opening to do so,” Kolivan still says. “They will be done before you are.”

The Paladins agree to it.

Shiro sees Lance and Pidge exchange looks that have him groan internally. The last thing Shiro needs is for them to start competing with the Blade members. He almost tells them off on it before deciding he’ll address it if it becomes an issue.

“We’ll head out in four days. That should be enough for us to hone our plan so that we’ll work more seamlessly when we get there. Let’s try to do this as a well working team,” Shiro says, looking at the others for confirmation.

“That sounds like a plan,” Lance says, while Pidge and Hunk nod their agreement.

“I’ll have the ship ready to move out,” Allura promises.

“And I’ll make sure Antok and his team are briefed on the mission,” Kolivan says.

It’s settled, and everyone goes their own ways.

Shiro heads to his room, intending on getting some rest, but he finds himself stopping by Keith’s door.

He shouldn’t open the door. He shouldn’t put himself through that, but his hand moves on its own and soon the door slides open.

Shiro steps in, knowing it’s the worst thing he could be doing.

The room hasn’t changed and it feels wrong somehow. It shouldn’t be the same without Keith. Something should have changed.

Shiro sits on the edge of the bed, running his hand over the cold covers, and sighs. It’s not fair. Keith should be there with the people who care about him.

Shiro is the one who ought to be locked in a cell. He knows he could take it. He knows he could escape again. He should have known Keith would do something stupid when Zarkon came after them and made sure he was safe.

Shiro frowns, scolding himself for his thoughts. He has no doubt Keith can survive Zarkon if he just stays calm and thinks ahead, but that’s not Keith’s style.

Keith will get emotional or do something reckless without thinking, and then he’ll be in trouble and possibly dead.

Shiro balls his hands into fists and frowns at the room.

The bag lying by the table catches in the attention. It’s the one Keith had packed for his and Allura’s escape trip, and though Coran had brought the bag back to the room no one had touched it beyond that.

Shiro stands and gets it. He finds Keith’s jacket inside it, and though he knows he shouldn’t he pulls it out. He buries his face in the soft lining of the jacket, and thinks it still smells of Keith.

Shiro bites back a sob and lies on the bed, clutching the jacket tightly against his chest until he falls asleep.

 

* * *

 

The mission is a success and everyone feels better after it. They gain no usable knowledge, but having the team work together more or less seamlessly is reward enough for them.

Shiro doesn’t share his friend’s need to celebrate their success, but he joins them nevertheless. Hunk prepares a meal with Coran’s help, and the mice perform a small show for them.

Kolivan doesn’t understand the appeal of the mice performing, but he pays attention to them anyways, refusing to miss even a second of the show. Shiro catches Allura smiling at the sight from the corner of his eye.

Pidge and Lance end up arguing over a game they’d both played back on Earth, and Hunk tries to play mediator for full five minutes before giving up and joining Shiro and Kolivan at the other end of the table. Coran is more than happy to engage in the argument, and Allura sips her drink while observing the table from her place at the head.

It’s familiar and comforting, even if Shiro can’t help but notice Keith’s absence.

 

* * *

 

They focus on bettering their team and finding new allies. They also include the Blade of Marmora a bit more in their operations, even though Kolivan refuses to let their needs to interfere with Blade missions and the Galra prove to be a deterrent for potential allies.

Allura puts all her diplomatic skills to use, and to everyone’s surprise Kolivan is rather tactful in the negotiations.

Shiro is the one who has to learn how to act as a politician. Team leading and fighting is easy compared to it. He learned both of them in the Garrison, but politics with alien cultures weren’t a part of his curriculum. He thinks he does well, though he prefers planning ways of rescuing Keith and fighting the Empire to sitting at a table and talking treaties.

Their current problem is figuring out a way of working around the increased security of the Central Command and its surrounding systems. They discover quickly they can’t exactly fly to the Central Command and take them by surprise.

“We could use a wormhole to get Zarkon’s ship far away from his fleet,” Pidge suggests.

Kolivan shakes his head. “If they know you are coming your friend will be dead before you reach him.”

“Could we disable the security system around the Central Command?” Hunk asks. Pidge adjusts her glasses and starts running calculations on her computer.

“My operatives might be able to help with that,” Kolivan offers. “If you can find a way of taking care of everything else.”

Shiro crosses his arms, considering their less than ideal situation. “We’ll have to make sure Keith is safe before we do anything else.”

“Once you have decided on a plan I can instruct my agents to be in Keith’s presence before we strike.”

“We’ll take that into consideration,” Shiro promises, nodding his thanks to Kolivan.

Kolivan returns the nod before uncrossing his arms. “I must return to our base. Keep me informed of your plans. You are free to include the Blade in them if you need to, but keep in mind that I cannot spare too many agents for this mission.”

The Paladins say their goodbyes to Kolivan’s retreating back before focusing on coming up with ideas. They all agree that Kolivan’s men inside Zarkon’s ship will have to make the first move and get Keith to a safe place. It will most likely alert Zarkon to something being wrong, so Voltron must be close by to step in.

“Maybe I could get the cloak to work on Voltron, not just the Green Lion,” Pidge says.

“Maybe we should cloak the Castle too while we’re at it,” Hunk suggests.

“Good idea.” Pidge gives him a bright smile and focuses back on her computer.

“Talk to Allura and Coran about that, they may have some ideas on how to make that work,” Shiro says, getting only a brief nod from Pidge as a response.

“I think it’s my turn make us dinner,” Hunk says as he stands. “Let me know if you need me,” he adds, directing his words to Pidge who hums in response.

Lance follows Hunk out of the room, talking about mermaids by the time the door closes behind them.

Shiro shakes his head, amused smile playing on his lips. It’s comforting to see the others behaving normally despite their situation. It calms and reassures him, and he’s sure it does so to the others as well. It’s good they can still be themselves.

It’s good that the others are learning to go on without Keith.

 

* * *

 

"Why did they do that?” Lance asks, his face angry. Shiro is glad the others are asking the questions, he doubts he could get a word out at the moment.

“He tried to escape a while back,” Kolivan replies. “Your friend should consider himself lucky to be in isolation, he could have been punished in much worse ways.”

Shiro can’t stand the idea of Keith in one of those cells. He’d spent a week in one, and it had been one of the worst experiences he’d had with the Galra. He can only hope Zarkon will show a little mercy and release Keith as soon as possible.

“Is there anything we can do to help him?” Allura asks, but Kolivan only shakes his head in response.

“He must face his punishment and survive it on his own."

It doesn't ease anyone’s mind, least of all Shiro’s.

They decide to strike a supply line in response to Keith’s imprisonment, and everyone nods their agreement when Lance says he hopes it’s an important route to the Empire.

 

* * *

 

It takes Kolivan almost three weeks to inform the team that Keith has been removed from isolation and placed in a secure location where Kolivan’s agent can’t reach him. When he ends the transmission Pidge is the first to point out he seemed a little off.

“He’s not telling us something.”

“Maybe something happened to Keith,” Lance suggests.

Shiro throws a withering glare at the back of his head before remembering he’s supposed to be the leader, and leaders don’t do things like that to their teammates, especially when they make a valid point.

“I say we rally our allies and strike against the Empire with everything we’ve got.” Coran stands straighter, crossing his hands behind his back. “It might distract Zarkon from harming Keith.”

“It might also make Zarkon lash out on him,” Shiro cuts in.

The bridge falls into uncomfortable silence.

“We have to do something,” Allura says, her voice serious and her expression grim. “What if we keep Zarkon so busy he can’t spare any time for Keith? He’s obsessed with Voltron. We could use that against him.”

“Yeah!” Lance nods with a determined look in his eyes. “We’re gonna beat him this time.”

“We are going to take out outposts and supply lines all over the Empire. If we cripple the transport of supplies we will weaken the Empire and force Zarkon to focus his attention on us. If we are lucky he will spread his fleets thin enough for us to attack the Central Command again.” Allura pulls out the map they have of the Empire as she speaks, and the others join her.

“We’ll have to make sure we’ll be hitting places the Empire need at a fast pace, and we’ll need to be able to make sure they can’t be easily reclaimed,” Shiro says.

“We can do it. We’ll just have to ask our allies to help us,” Allura replies, her voice certain.

“I still don’t like the fact that Kolivan didn’t tell us the entire truth,” Pidge says, crossing her arms.

Hunk shrugs. “He probably just didn’t want to worry us.” He receives a series of questioning looks. “Well, Keith’s been in isolation, right? He’s probably not doing too well. I know I wouldn’t.”

Shiro nods and crosses his arms. “The Galra isolation cell isn’t exactly a fun place to be. I trust Kolivan would’ve told us if Keith was hurt or in danger.”

“Then we work on the assumption that Keith is safe for now,” Allura says.

It’s the best plan they have, and they focus on deciding what their first target should be. They settle on taking out a quintessence refining plant, and they launch their attack the next day.

The burning remnants of the building they leave behind fill Shiro with a mean sort of satisfaction.

 

* * *

 

They continue their attacks, taking out supply lines and outposts all across the galaxy. It still takes them nearly three weeks to strike a place that warrants a response from Zarkon.

They are in the far reaches of the Empire, taking out an outpost that doesn’t seem to have any other significance than to establish Galra presence in an otherwise unoccupied system.

Their target is almost fully automated space station, and the reinforcements for the crew sounding the alarm are far away. The station falls, but not before a ship like they’ve never seen escapes the destruction.

It’s smaller and more nimble than the usual Galra vessels, but Shiro orders pursuit nonetheless. They spend good five minutes just trying to get a single shot at it as the ship darts around them, close enough to encourage pursuit but far enough to easily dodge any attacks.

Catching it seems like a futile effort, but it might be a scout vessel, and there’s no way Shiro is going to let it get away. The others agree with him, though Allura and Lance agree that they need to be cautious.

To everyone’s surprise, when the ship decides to flee it doesn’t head for Galra space, but for a dense gas planet. “We’ll lose it there.” Pidge’s frustration is obvious in her voice, and they all put a little more effort into capturing the ship.

“There is a slight problem,” Coran’s voice comes over the comm lines. “A fleet of Galra battle cruisers is going to be there in less than ten dobashes.”

The Paladins share a collective curse before Shiro orders them to stop pursuing the ship and face the fleet. “It’s gone anyways,” he reasons, more to reassure himself than the others.

“Anyone else feel like we’ve just been played?” Hunk asks.

“Yeah. And if that ship ever comes back I’m gonna get it,” Lance replies, anger clear in his voice.

“Focus.” Shiro frowns at the still empty space, but his fellow Paladins quiet down and focus on the task before them.

It takes an eternity and mere seconds for the Galra fleet to appear, but Voltron is ready.

They’ve barely made a dent in the first fleet when a second one appears. “I think we’ve finally pissed them off,” Pidge says between explosions.

“You don’t say?” Allura’s voice is tense under the feigned lightness.

Shiro almost tells them to focus again, but they do so without his input, much to his relief.

They defeat the fleets already there, and when Coran tells them his sensors are detecting two more fleets closing in, Shiro decides it’s time to call it quits and head back to the Castle. “We’ll be fighting them forever. We did what we came here to do, let's get out of here and regroup.”

“I don’t like this,” Lance says, but it remains the only protest, and they return to the Castle before they are ambushed again.

They regroup on the bridge, and Allura opens a wormhole for them before the Galra fleets can detect them.

“I think that was a good target,” Lance says when they are safely out of range. “They definitely didn’t like us taking it out.”

“I think you are right,” Allura agrees. She doesn’t look happy. “But that ship that got away bothers me.”

“Me too.” Shiro crosses his arms and frowns at the floor for a second before raising his eyes to meet his teammates. “It baited us into getting ambushed.”

“And we fell into it without thinking.” Allura sighs.

Despite their victory nobody is happy about the escaped vessel. They can only hope they’ve done enough damage, and that the vessel wasn’t important. Shiro vows never to let it happen again.

They’ll have to be more careful in the future.

 

* * *

 

When Keith’s birthday comes Shiro goes on a solo mission just to break some sentries.

Later he lets Coran patch him up while Allura glares at him from the corner of the room, disappointed in his actions and not understanding why he hadn’t abandoned the mission when he’d been discovered. Shiro doesn’t tell her what day it is. There’s nothing to be done about it, and talking about it won’t change anything.

It won’t change the fact that Keith is spending another birthday alone.

Coran dismisses Shiro, and with one final glance at Allura Shiro hurries to his room and curls on his bed.

The day passes, and if Shiro could he’d get a drink of the wine Keith had bought him as a gift when he’d been selected to the Kerberos mission. Shiro had appreciated the gift even though he’d told Keith not to spend his money on such silly things. He’d refused to let Keith go without sharing a drink first.

Shiro had hoped he could have given Keith a better birthday than his last one, since Shiro had been with the Galra at the time. Shiro had hoped that they could have thrown Keith a proper party, even if Keith would have pretended to hate it. He’d planned it, even, but it wasn’t going to happen.

He just never expected for Keith to be the one held captive this time around.

 

* * *

 

Hunk stares at the alien text on the box. It doesn’t make any sense to him. He’s not focused enough for his Lion to help him understand it.

The team is fraying at the edges, even if they all are acting like that’s not exactly what’s happening. They’re all trying to keep themselves and the team together, and the universe needs their protection and Keith is lost somewhere in the Galra Empire.

So Hunk makes cookies because he’s good at it, and it calms his mind and makes the others smile, even if it’s just for a minute or two.

He sighs and closes his eyes for a second, and shakes his head to clear his thoughts.

“Okay. Let’s try again.” He focuses on the box, and soon the text starts to make sense to him again.

He’ll have to talk to Lance about the possibility of milking Kaltenecker. If he had real milk he could make milkshakes or pancakes that actually tasted like pancakes. Or they could just drink real milk.

When the cookies are in the oven, Hunk sits by the counter and lets his mind wander again.

Someone should check on Shiro. It seems to Hunk that Shiro is doing his best to keep everyone else together and not sparing any time to making sure he’s alright himself. Maybe Hunk could take the first cookies to him.

It’s a good idea, and as soon as the cookies are done Hunk places some of them on a plate, and leaves the rest on a tray for the others to find.

Locating Shiro isn’t as hard as Hunk thought, and he finds him staring at the Black Lion in contemplative silence.

“I made cookies,” Hunk says as a greeting.

Shiro turns around, uncrossing his arms, and Hunk raises the plate to show the cookies.

Shiro gives him a brief smile and a nod. “Thanks.”

Hunk walks up to him, and turns the plate until the biggest cookie is in front of Shiro. Shiro smiles more genuinely and accepts the cookie Hunk wants him to take.

Hunk glances at the Black Lion, unsure of why Shiro is there.

“She’s been a little off,” Shiro offers as an explanation to the unasked question.

“What do yo mean?”

Shiro shrugs. “It’s just a feeling. Like she’s not all here all the time. I’d say she’s reaching out to something or someone, but everytime I try to figure out what it is she stops.”

Hunk frowns and picks up a cookie of his own. They regard the Lion in a silence that’s not exactly uneasy, but there is something in the air and Hunk doesn’t like it.

“Maybe she’s looking after Keith,” he offers. Shiro raises an eyebrow at him, and the mix of sadness and hope in his eyes feel like a punch to Hunk’s gut. “Maybe she’s using her connection to Zarkon to keep tabs on Keith. Or maybe she bonded with Keith when he piloted her. Maybe she’s using that bond to let him know we’re coming for him.”

“Maybe.” Shiro’s voice has a strangled edge to it, and Hunk wonders if he could get away with hugging Shiro.

He puts the plate aside and decides to risk it. Shiro lets out a surprised noise before laughing softly and wrapping his arms around Hunk. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. And just so you know, I give the best hugs on this side of the galaxy, and you can get them free of charge,” Hunk says and holds Shiro a little tighter. He doesn’t mention the way Shiro clings to him, with just a little desperation.

 

* * *

 

“I didn’t know you knew how to milk a cow,” Shiro says, slouching against the table while Hunk serves him the first milkshake ever made in space. He’s not sure if he regrets being the first one to enter the kitchen or not, but everyone must take turns being the first to try out Hunk’s new recipes.

“It’s easy. I’ll teach you,” Lance replies, looking a little too happy at the prospect.

“No thanks. I leave Kaltenecker to you.” Shiro smiles easily and takes the first sip of the milkshake.

“This is great,” he says to Hunk, and finishes the drink while Hunk goes to prepare Lance his own milkshake.

Shiro listens to Lance’s idle chatter while Hunk throws in his own comments.

“I’m telling you she liked me!” Lance insists while Hunk serves them the second round of milkshakes.

“She threw stones at you,” Hunk reminds him. “You’re my tasters until they’re perfect,” he tells Shiro, who nods and mentally abandons the idea of a more varied breakfast.

“Maybe throwing stones is a mating ritual in their culture,” Lance says, a concerned frown slowly appearing on his face. “Do you think I should’ve thrown rocks at her?”

Shiro shakes his head. “No, I saw one of them flirting with Coran. He was changing the colors of his neck ridges and cooing. I think throwing stones is a no thank you.”

Lance crosses his arms and grumbles, but he doesn’t insist Shiro is wrong, and that’s something Shiro can appreciate.

“Do you think Coran got his number?” Hunk asks, sounding both amused and mildly concerned.

“They did disappear for the evening,” Shiro replies, trying not to smile at the face Hunk makes.

“Now there’s a mental image no one needed,” Lance groans, and Shiro can’t help but laugh at their horrified expressions.

The door opens and Pidge walks in, rubbing the last of the sleep from her eyes. She trudges to the table and slumps next to Shiro, accepting the offered milkshake without a glance. She downs almost half of it in one go until letting the glass clink against the table as she clutches her head and curses while her friends laugh around her.

“Brain freeze?” Lance manages between gasps for breath.

“Yeah,” Pidge grits between her teeth, scrunching her eyes shut. “I’m gonna need another one of these,” she adds, directing her words in Hunk’s general direction.

“Got it,” Hunk replies with a happy smile.

A few minutes later Allura and Coran join them. Hunk serves them their first milkshakes, explaining what they are when asked, and barely managing to start warning them about drinking them too fast before both Allura and Coran have emptied their glasses.

“Why are you looking at us like that?” Allura asks, eyeing the shocked faces of her friends cautiously.

“Alteans don’t get brain freeze,” Pidge states, her voice bland.

Lance groans and slumps in his chair. “That’s unfair.”

“We’ve gotta give one of these to Kolivan when he comes back. I want to see how a Galra reacts to milkshakes,” Pidge says, getting an enthusiastic nod from Lance in return.

“Let’s hope they don’t get brain freeze either. I don’t want to see him angry because of my milkshakes,” Hunk says.

“Brain freeze?” Allura turns to Shiro with an inquisitively wide eyes.

Shiro leans closer to her to be heard over the others. “A headache you get from consuming something cold too quickly.”

“Sounds awful!” Coran says between sips of his milkshake. Allura nods emphatically.

“It passes fairly quickly, and it’s not really harmful. Avoiding it is just a matter of not consuming anything cold too fast,” Shiro replies, smiling softly at the focused looks of Allura and Coran as they take in his every word.

“But if you get so damaged by cold food why do you consume them?” Coran presses.

Shiro shrugs. “They taste really good.”

“-and that’s how we defeat Zarkon with milkshakes!” Lance’s excited voice cuts in. Shiro raises an eyebrow at him, not having paid attention to their conversation.

Lance is quick to explain his plan for defeating Zarkon with milkshakes, with Pidge and Hunk throwing in additional comments every now and then.

 

* * *

 

The good mood in the Castle doesn’t last long.

Kolivan informs them that Zarkon has gotten into a habit of having Keith accompany him during meetings. It doesn’t sit well with anyone. Shiro bites his lip to keep quiet while Allura crosses her arms, her expression dark.

“So now he’s parading Keith in front of everyone,” Lance huffs.

“Keith was also forced into a confrontation with one of the commanders, which resulted in the death of said commander. Keith remains relatively unharmed,” Kolivan says.

Shiro’s pulse rises and he grits his teeth together. “We’re going to get him back, Now.”

“Agreed,” Allura says.

Kolivan inclines his head, his expression solemn. “If you will inform me of your plan and timetable we will offer assistance if needed. If you require assistance from my agents already in the Central Command you should know we have a carefully planned communication schedule that I cannot break.”

“It would be a great help if you could find out when the Central Command is at its weakest,” Allura says.

Kolivan inclines his head, and after the Paladins promise to keep him informed of their plan he cuts the communication off. Shiro turns to face his team with a grim expression. “Time to decide on a plan.”

 

* * *

 

Kolivan sends one of his operatives to help the Paladins form the perfect rescue plan.

The Galra that arrives is a tall woman who carries herself with regality that makes Allura match her pose immediately. Shiro isn’t sure how he feels about her, and a quick glance at the others tell him that he’s not alone in his doubts.

“I am Rejya. I have been ordered to assist you in any way I can,” the Galra introduces herself with a calculated tilt of her head that almost shakes a strand of deep red hair from the ponytail she’s tied on top of her head.

"We are pleased to have you here,” Allura replies, her voice perfectly diplomatic.

Rejya doesn’t look like she shares the sentiment. “I don’t mean to be impolite, but the sooner we are done here the faster I can get back to my duties.”

Allura nods, though her smile becomes more strained. “Of course. Right this way.”

She leads Rejya to the lounge where she and Shiro fill her in on their ideas. She looks less than impressed by the time they’re done.

“Your plan will fail,” Rejya declares, much to everyone else’s annoyance.

“And why is that?” Shiro asks, doing his best to keep his voice civil. He’s in no mood for this.

Rejya cocks her head and starts walking around the room slowly. “If you attack the Central Command without having secured your friend he will surely die, and there is no way for you to get to him.”

“That’s why your agents will help us,” Hunk says, and if it was anyone else Shiro would be annoyed by the optimistic tone.

Rejya shakes her head. “Our surveillance show that whenever Keith isn’t with the Emperor he is either accompanied by a druid, a formidable soldier, or he is confined in the Emperor’s quarters, from where we have no way of retrieving him.”

The looks she receives range from disbelieving to shocked.

“What is he doing in Zarkon’s quarters?” Pidge’s voice comes as an incredulous bark.

Rejya stops and turns to face her. “Why does one usually stay in another’s quarters instead of their own?” She cocks her head, raising an eyebrow.

Shiro wants to throw up. By the looks of the others he doesn’t seem to be the only one.

“Then what do you suggest we do?” Coran asks.

Rejya resumes walking, seemingly lost in thought for the moment. “Wait until the witch leaves the Central Command, that leaves it more vulnerable to an attack. If rescuing Keith is a priority then you will also have to time your attack so that he is not with the Emperor, or in his quarters. As the Emperor changes Keith’s schedule daily it will be hard to pinpoint when our agents might be able to safely secure him. We have recently lost a valuable source of information within the Command Ship, so the window for you to strike will be brief, and you cannot afford mistakes.”

“We can do that,” Shiro says, his voice full of conviction. He’ll be there in a heartbeat if he’s told to move, alone if he has to.

“We could be ready to move on a short notice if it would be easier for your agents to decide when we rescue Keith,” Allura says, glancing at the others to make sure they agree.

“So it would be up to our agents to execute your rescue plan?”

“No,” Shiro cuts in. “But it will be easier if they decide when it’s safest for them to get Keith away from Zarkon, let us know they’re moving, and then just keep Keith out of the way until we’ve dealt with Zarkon and his men. Then we’ll get Keith, and if your agents want to stay they can stay, or they can come with us.”

Rejya shrugs. “I will offer this plan to our Leader, and he will decide if it’s acceptable to take to our agents. If you have no further need for my assistance I would like to return to my duties,” she says instead, stopping and turning to face the Paladins.

Allura stands, offering Rejya a polite smile. “I was hoping you would remain with us until Keith is rescued, perhaps help us in our efforts?”

Rejya takes a deep, slow breath, and glances at the floor before focusing her attention on Allura. “I am not willing to sacrifice myself because of your desire for revenge. I have done what I was ordered to do. I will take my leave of you and return to the people.”

“I am not motivated by a need for revenge,” Allura says, trying her best to remain polite.

“Of course you are,” Rejya counters. “You have been gone for thousands of years, and the people who destroyed your world are ruling the universe. Wishing revenge is quite understandable. I simply do not wish to be a part of it, not do I recognize your authority as a ruler. You have been gone for too long to claim any right to that.”

“She’s a great princess!” Lance shoots up from his seat, glaring at Rejya with all the anger he has.

“Lance.” Allura shakes her head at him minutely before stepping toward Rejya. “You’re right, I have been gone for a long time, and I do want retribution for what was done to my people, but my father taught me to be better than that, and do what is right.”

“I don’t deny your ability to lead this team, I simply don’t believe you have the ability to be a leader on a larger scale. You have no understanding of the people of this time. You do not share our history. And you are a child, no matter how well you were trained, your emotions are bound to affect you. I do not consider it a fault, as you are still learning.” Rejya, to Shiro's relief, remains perfectly calm.

“I know I have still a lot to learn about this time, but I don’t think it affects my ability to lead in this situation,” Allura says, and though she looks upset just for a second she hides it behind the mask of a princess quickly.

“If you intend to convince me to remain, don’t. I won’t do so unless my Leader directly orders it. And if you want me to bow before you and recognize your authority, you will have to earn it,” Rejya crosses her arms, unaffected by the shocked and dismayed looks she receives. “It’s nothing personal, I’m simply not willing to bow before a leader I would not be willing to risk my life for.”

Lance stomps forward, his face red with fury, but Hunk stops him before he can take more than two steps, and leans in to whisper something in his ear. Lance doesn’t calm down, but he remains by Hunk’s side, fuming quietly.

Allura looks down, and though Shiro can see she’s affected by Rejya’s words she collects herself and faces her with dignity. “I understand. Would it be alright if we contacted you in case we need further assistance in the planning phase?”

Rejya inclines her head. “That’s acceptable.”

Allura personally shows Rejya to her shuttle.

The others remain where they are, all in various stages of outrage.

“What an infuriating person,” Coran huffs and crosses his arms.

Lance turns to face him. “Then why didn’t you say something?”

“Because it wasn’t my place to say anything. Allura must be able to handle a little criticism if she is to be the leader we all know her to be,” Coran replies.

“Coran is right,” Shiro says. “We may know what Allura is capable of, but if we jump to her defense without giving her a chance to prove herself others will never follow her. She has to show she’s a leader, people can’t just hear us say so.”

Lance scowls. “It’s still not right.”

“A lot of things aren’t right,” Coran sighs.

“Well, I’m gonna go make sure Green’s ready for action. Then I’m gonna take one of those sparkly baths and sleep,” Pidge says, pushing herself up from the corner of the couch she’d been observing the situation from.

Shiro is the first to follow her out of the room, heading straight to his own room. He needs time to think in peace.

 

* * *

 

It takes a few few weeks, but eventually the Blade agents in the Central Command send a message saying Haggar will be leaving for a few days, taking some of the druids with her. It’s their best chance to strike, and the Castle is suddenly on full alert, ready to leave at a moment's notice.

Kolivan comes to the Castle with five of his agents to offer assistance, and to act as the liaison between the Castle and the Central Command.

Five days later, in the middle of the night, the alarm sounds, and Shiro bolts out of the bed and runs to the bridge. He’s the first one there, but the others aren’t far behind him.

“We have an opening in five vargas. One of our agents has been ordered to escort Keith then, and the witch will have departed already. You must be ready to move in no less than four vargas. The good news is that we will have secured Keith without raising any alarms,” Kolivan says when everyone is present.

“Great.” Shiro turns to face the other Paladins, trying not to let the light deep within he’d thought he’d lost get the better of him. “Get rest, eat, be here on time. Getting Keith back won’t be easy, but we’re going to do it.”

He receives solemn nods in response, and everyone returns to their rooms, though Shiro doubts they’ll get anymore sleep than he will.

 

* * *

 

Exactly five vargas later Voltron strikes against the Galra Central Command, and everything goes wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I originally had Allura pilot Red, but having Lance pilot Red fits better with what I have in mind for what's happening in the third chapter, and the show taking that route was just the final push I needed to make that decision. Also I had to add a bit about the milkshakes. I like sprinkling canon stuff along my AU's.
> 
> Next chapter will come near the end of Shelter from a Cold Storm.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed this!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here's the last part!

Their plan had been so simple; get in when Haggar was gone and snatch Keith from under Zarkon’s nose while taking out a large chunk of the Central Command.

But Haggar had been there, ready with her druids and an armada standing by, and Voltron hadn’t stood a chance.

They had known Voltron was coming, that much is obvious to Shiro as he strides down the hallway leading to the bridge of the Castle. Someone had tipped Zarkon off, and he had taken Keith who knows where before Voltron had struck.

Shiro storms onto the bridge where Allura and Kolivan are waiting for him, The others are still being bandaged up by Coran.

“ Someone tipped them off,” Shiro states, his cold eyes glued to Kolivan.

Kolivan crosses his arms, his ears twitching down for a second. “None of my agents would betray us.”

“ Are you sure?” Shiro takes a step into Kolivan’s personal space, knowing it isn’t the wisest move but unable to stop himself nonetheless.

They were so close to getting Keith back. Keith would be there with them if someone hadn’t told Zarkon they were coming. Keith should be there and not halfway across the universe, at Zarkon’s mercy.

“ They are loyal to our cause,” Kolivan insists, "the Empire must have a way of detecting Voltron."

Shiro’s brow knits together. "So now this is our fault?"

"This is no one's fault," Allura cuts in, "for all we know this was a coincidence."

She turns to Kolivan, her expression hard. "I’m not blaming you, but if there is a chance that Zarkon has somehow manipulated one of your agents or become aware of your comm routes, would it be too much to ask that you find a way to re-secure your lines and limit the flow of information from us to the people you trust most until we have discoverer why this happened? We will be more careful with our movements as well."

Despite his displeased expression, Kolivan inclines his head. "I will see what I can do."

He leaves without another word, and Allura turns to face Shiro. "Keith might not have been there, but we failed as a team as well."

Shiro rubs his face and sighs. "I know. The team's not working as it is. We might need to look into who is piloting which Lion. Or maybe we just need team building."

A silence falls on the bridge, and Allura and Shiro look at each other in solemn silence. They both know it will be hard for the team to hear they might have to change Paladins again. It's not something they are looking forward, and Shiro hopes it won't come down to it.

"Let's regroup first," Shiro says, getting a nod from Allura.

 

* * *

It takes Kolivan a little over a week to inform the team that they have discovered which ship Keith is on, and Allura calls a meeting in the lounge.

Lance is the first to suggest that they should go get Keith now that he's less protected, but Shiro stops him before he can get the others excited as well. "They're in the middle of the Galra Empire, surrounded by warships and moving constantly. We can't risk going that deep into enemy territory to go against Zarkon and Haggar when we could barely take on Haggar alone. Zarkon can take over Black and beat a Lion in a one on one fight. We'll need to find a way around that first."

Lance frowns. "Yeah, but that was Keith piloting Red. I've been doing this longer. We've all been doing this longer. And it's not the Central Command."

"Keith is a better pilot than you," Shiro snaps before he can stop himself.

The hurt look on Lance's face does little to alleviate Shiro's frustration. He shouldn't snap at his friends, but he is in no mood for Lance's ridiculous competition with Keith, especially when Keith isn't even there.

"You said you wouldn't let your need to be better than Keith affect you," Shiro reminds Lance, just in case he forgot.

Lance looks properly chastised if angry, but Shiro turns his attention to the others. "I know you don't want to do this again. I don't either, but we're not the best team we can be. We may need to think about making sure that the right people are piloting the right Lions."

Allura nods, but Lance stomps up to Shiro and crosses his arms. "You mean you want to replace me."

Shiro frowns in warning, but Lance pokes his chest. "So you're going to find a new Red Paladin and I'm just going to be stuck in the sidelines? I'd be useless!"

"You'd be taking Blue back," Allura replies. Lance swirls around to face her, but he doesn't look happy.

"I'm good with Red," Lance insists. "She chose me!"

Shiro considers arguing. He considers pointing out he needs someone like Keith as his second, and that Lance lacks the kind of strength and stubbornness Shiro needs as his counter, but he knows it wouldn't do any good. Lance is probably lashing out because of their failed mission.

"The Lions aren't unaware of what's happening," Coran says, "the Red Lion knows her Paladin is in danger, so she's allowing you to pilot her because it's needed."

Shiro starts. "Like when Black let Keith pilot her."

Coran nods. "The Lions have a history of allowing people to pilot them when their Paladin is in danger. The Red Lion might be doing just that. It's hard to know since we haven't gotten Keith back yet."

"Wait, hold on." Hunk raises a hand and frowns. "Why did Red refuse all of us for so long if it wants to save Keith?"

Coran crosses his arms. "Who knows. The Red Lion has always been a little capricious. Perhaps she waited until she was sure Keith wasn't coming back, or she had trouble making up its mind on who would be the best replacement. Or maybe she just waited for someone somewhat deserving to be its pilot."

"So when Lance had his realization about how stupid his rivalry with Keith is, Red picked him," Pidge concludes. "Why didn't she pick Allura?"

"Because I have no piloting experience, at least not the kind that would help with the Lions. All of you were already experienced when the Lion's chose you," Allura replies.

"No matter the reasons, we should take a few more days to ourselves before attacking the Empire again." Shiro looks around to see the approving nods of his friends. "Get some rest. I'll keep an eye on the comms in case Kolivan has more information."

The others don't follow Shiro when he leaves the lounge.

 

* * *

A few days later Pidge disappears with the Green Lion, and though everyone is initially worried they soon find the note Pidge had left them saying she didn't want to worry anyone, but one of her files had information on her brother and she had to check it out. Shiro hopes she'll get good news.

One of them should.

What he didn't expect to see is Pidge returning with Matt.

Pidge's happiness at having her brother back is contagious, and soon everyone is smiling and excited to have a new addition to the team.

Matt is perfectly fine, which is more than Shiro had hoped for, though he never let himself believe Matt had to go through the horrors he had.

Like Keith might be going through.

Shiro shakes his head and greets Matt before Pidge drags him away to see the ship.

“ He seems nice,” Coran says, “and it's always good to have more people around.”

Shiro nods. “Matt is a good person.”

“ And Pidge has her brother back,” Hunk adds.

It might just be the good thing everyone needed to happen. It's certainly put everyone in good mood, and though Shiro tries not to forget about Keith, he's having a hard time not to get swept away with the excitement of Matt's arrival. They have a meal to celebrate, and Matt entertains everyone by telling them what he has been up to with the rebellion.

“ You wouldn't happened to have heard anything about a Paladin being held by the Empire?” Shiro asks, hating himself just a little for bringing it up when everyone is in such a good mood.

Matt's expression darkens. “Pidge told me about Keith. And no, we have heard nothing but rumors of Zarkon having some kind of a special prisoner, but those rumors aren’t exactly rare. I wish I could be more help.”

“ It's fine,” Shiro replies. “We have the Blade of Marmora helping us with Keith. They have agents inside the Empire.”

Matt hums, a small frown on his face. “Your Galra friends? Can they be trusted?”

“ Yes. I told you,” Pidge cuts in, “they're nice Galra.”

Matt doesn't look convinced, and when Allura directs the conversation to more happy topics, no one complains.

 

* * *

“ We have good news,” Rejya says when she joins the Paladins again. Everyone perks up, their eyes glued to her. “Our agent on board the same vessel as Zarkon has been tasked with teaching your friend.”

“ Teaching him what?” Hunk asks.

“ Our language. Apparently he is an apt student.” Rejya tilts her head, “this is good. It gives our agent a chance to keep a closer eye on Keith.”

Shiro perks up. “Can your agent tell Keith we're coming for him?”

Rejya's expression darkens. “No. We cannot risk him telling Zarkon about our agent. Your friend is too close to the Emperor and we cannot be sure how deep his manipulations run.”

Shiro wants to argue, but he knows Rejya is right. Keith has been under Zarkon's direct influence for months, there's no way of knowing what he has done to Keith. Zarkon might have even had Haggar do something to him. And if it's true that Keith shares a room with Zarkon then — “Is there any chance your agent could find out what's going on with Keith?”

“ He is trying to gain Keith's trust, and hopefully Keith will talk to him of his own volition,” Rejya replies.

“ Knowing how much power Zarkon holds over Keith would be helpful,” Allura says, “even if we were to successfully retrieve Keith, we would have to know what Zarkon has done to him. Keith might want to return to him, maybe even work against us.”

The mere suggestion that Keith would ever choose Zarkon over them makes Shiro seethe, but there are things that he just can't ignore. Like Keith's apparent new freedom on board the Galra vessel, and him staying with Zarkon in his quarters. Those things aren't something Keith would get if he was still openly opposing Zarkon.

And Keith isn't a good liar. Shiro doubts he could fool Zarkon into believing he was trustworthy if he really wasn't. Zarkon isn't stupid, and there is no way he can't spot a lie, especially from Keith.

“ We'll figure it out once we have Keith back,” Shiro says.

No one argues with him, but no one looks happy either.

 

* * *

They fall into a routine of helping the rebels, working on strengthening the alliances, and collecting intelligence on the Galra Empire and especially Zarkon's current ship.

“ Why hasn't he returned to the Central Command?” Hunk asks one evening while they are finishing off their evening snack.

Pidge hums. “From what intel we have the Central Command is still being fixed after our attack. We did a number on it and if Zarkon isn't in a hurry to return there they're probably not in a hurry to fix it either.”

“ Didn't Kolivan say they're basically done with the repairs?” Lance cuts in, “that they’re doing fine tweaking at most?”

“ We could wreck it again,” Hunk suggests swinging his spoon around. “Then Zarkon can't go back there.”

“ That's... not a bad idea.” Allura glances around the table. “The Central Command is the heart of the Empire, so keeping it from Zarkon might be a good move.”

“ On the other hand, if he has no plans to return there anyways we'd just be wasting time and angering him by destroying the Central Command again, and then we'd have to wait for the retaliation for it. Zarkon doesn't strike me as the type of a person who has any sense of humor,” Shiro cuts in before anyone gets too excited. “I say we look into that research base in the Varjola system.”

“ The one with the quintessence? Count me in.” Lance nods, and glances at Hunk for agreement.

“ Quintessence is important for the Galra, taking out a research base that centers around it would be a blow to the Empire,” Coran says, but though everyone else is happy with the idea, Allura frowns.

“ That base isn’t exactly on the edge of the Empire.”

“ We'll figure it out,” Shiro promises. It seems to ease Allura's mind, and they spend the rest of the evening planning it out.

 

* * *

They go to the research base a week later, with the help of Matt and a few of his rebel friends, who have agreed to keep an eye on the premise while the Paladins sneak in. Even Rejya joins them to help them get into the base. She tells them they should have a Blade in the base already, but since communications from the research base are tightly controlled they haven't been in touch with the agent for months.

Shiro suspects Rejya is there to check on her fellow Blade as much as she is there to help them.

Getting into the base is nearly impossible undetected, but they manage by taking only the Green Lion in, even if they all would feel more comfortable having all of Voltron with them. But the other Lions can't get through the security undetected, not without the upgrades Pidge had done to the Green Lion.

Lance suggests she modify the rest of the Lions as well, but everyone agrees it would take too much time.

They get through the first security grid without problems, and though their going is slow, they clear the second grid as well. Pidge chews her lip and focuses on her flying while Matt runs their calculations and predictions on his computer, his occasional instructions the only thing breaking the silence.

Soon the asteroid the research facility is on is right before them, and they land on it, far away from the sensors and the cameras that might detect them.

“ I will enter first,” Rejya says, “I will signal you when it's safe for you to follow.”

Shiro nods, and she takes off, quickly making her way to the ventilation system opening a little way away from the main doors, guarded by sentries and Galra alike. Rejya is supposed to open an old hatch for the rest of them, and Shiro waits anxiously for her to call them to tell them to move.

It takes minutes, but it feels longer for Rejya to inform them the access point is safe to use. Shiro leads the way around the facility to the old maintenance hatch that isn't in use anymore, but no one has gotten around to sealing.

The hallways are eerily quiet. Only the sound of the marching sentries further away occasionally pierces the air. Shiro shudders, fighting back the memory of listening to that sound in his cell.

They get down the hallway before splitting into two groups, with Lance, Hunk, and Rejya going one way, and Shiro, Pidge, and Allura going another.

Rejya's team will set explosives to the key points of the structure and locate the elusive Blade agent while Shiro and Allura will take Pidge to the main computer and get a sample of the quintessence for Kolivan's team to analyze. They suspect there's something special about the quintessence manufactured in the facility, and they want to find out what it is. Coran had volunteered to help them, if for no other reason than to gain more knowledge of the stuff the Galra use to power their Empire.

Getting to the computers is easy enough, and Pidge downloads all the files she can while Allura and Shiro stand guard. The sentries walk past them a few times and they have to duck for cover, but they get the files done, and Shiro comms Rejya to see how her team is doing.

“ We located our agent. We are going to set the bombs now, I suggest you hurry,” Rejya says, and it's all Shiro needs to know.

“ We need to hurry,” he tells Allura and Pidge, and they nod.

As soon as the guards have passed their hiding place, they rush to get the quintessence samples for Kolivan.

The room where the quintessence is stored is massive and round. The walls are covered in bottles of the sparkling golden and purple quintessence Shiro has seen before, but one fourth of the shelves is dedicated to nearly blinding, white quintessence.

“ I think that's the one Kolivan wants,” Shiro says, pointing at the white quintessence, “I've seen this stuff before but never in that color.”

“ Or we could take a bottle of everything just to be sure,” Pidge suggests.

Shiro nods. “Sounds like a good idea.”

Allura helps Pidge up the shelves to get to the smaller bottles, and Shiro keeps a close eye on the doors.

They are surprised when they get all three samples without being interrupted, and Shiro hurries his team to the door as soon as they have what they came for.

The druid entering the room makes them halt in their tracks, and for a long second no one moves.

The druid strikes first. Shiro ducks for cover, barely stopping to make sure Allura and Pidge follow his example.

Quintessence bottles shatter, sending the liquid flying across the room. “Watch out!” Shiro slides under the nearest shelf to avoid the quintessence.

Allura and Pidge follow his example, and Shiro breathes a sigh of relief before his attention returns to the druid.

They have to be careful. Shiro knows what the quintessence can do to a person, and he's not going to see it happen to one of his friends. He doesn't want to see it happening to anyone.

The druid continues their attack, alternating between striking at Allura, Shiro, and Pidge, and the three can do little more than dodge until the room is filled with glimmering quintessence splattered on the floor and droplets drifting in the air. Shiro doesn't want to know what might happen if they were to touch them, and if Pidge's way of staying as low as she can is any indication, she's not interested in finding it out either.

“ We have to get past them,” Allura says, dodging another bolt of magic. “Pidge, can you pull that shelf down?”

Pidge peeks from under the fallen shelf she's taken refugee in, and nods.

“ I'll cover,” Shiro says.

They wait for the druid to stop attacking for one second. Shiro bolts from his shelter and rushes at them, distracting the druid for long enough for Pidge to pull the shelf from above them down. Shiro takes cover, but the druid isn't so quick.

The quintessence bottles shatter, and the falling shelves crush the druid on the ground.

“ Run!” Shiro hurries to get the door open, and waits until Pidge is bolting down the corridor before turning to Allura.

He stills when he realizes the druid is gone. He looks up to Allura. She's almost within his reach. She's almost safe.

The druid appears behind her without a warning.

“ Watch out!” Shiro runs towards Allura, not sure how he intends to protect her from the druid but needing to do something.

Allura ducks, but she's not fast enough to avoid the full blow of the druid's magic.

Shiro freezes, and the world falls from under his feet. She has to be alright. She has to. They can't lose anyone else. Shiro won't be able to live with himself if he loses anyone else.

The magic dissipates from the air, and Shiro breathes a sigh of relief when he sees Allura still in one piece on the ground. His relief turns to confusion and worry when he realizes she's got an ethereal, white glow about her. It can't be good.

Shiro shakes his head and bolts towards Allura again, just as she slams her hands on the ground, sending blinding lightning across the room.

One bolt hits the druid, and Shiro makes a mental note to congratulate Allura about it later.

A flash of white catches Shiro's attention.

He doesn't have time to dodge before it strikes him.

 

* * *

Shiro wakes up in the healing pod, and everyone but Allura is there to greet him and fill him in on everything that has happened, which isn't much.

They have returned to the safer edges of the Galra Empire, and they successfully destroyed the base and got Kolivan his samples. It's good news, and Shiro is satisfied with his team as he heads to his room after taking a long shower.

All he has to do now is find Allura and make sure she's alright. Shiro searches the ship without any hurry, and finally he finds Allura in the training room, sitting on the floor with Lance. They seem to be lost in conversation, and for a moment Shiro considers leaving them to it.

In the end he clears his throat quietly enough to be ignored, catching Allura's attention.

“ I just wanted to make sure you're alright,” he explains, and Allura offers him a shaky smile.

“ I'm fine. You're the one who got hurt.”

Shiro shrugs. “I've had worse.” He's not sure if it's true, but he's not going to let Allura think otherwise.

Lance glances between them, and sighs before touching Allura's arm. “I'll go get something to drink.” He pushes himself to his feet and nods at Shiro as he passes him.

Shiro waits until he's out of the door before approaching Allura. “I just wanted to see how you're handling things,” he starts and takes a step closer to Allura. “You used their magic.”

“ I know,” Allura says, then sighs and lowers her head, “and I nearly killed you because of it.”

“ It was an accident. You didn't mean to do it.” Shiro hurries to her and crouches by her side, offering her his most encouraging smile. “I'm fine. And I'm proud of you. I don't know how you did it but it was impressive and I am proud of you.”

Allura smiles, but it doesn't reach her eyes. “I don't know if I want to do it again.”

“ You don't have to,” Shiro assures her, “but if you want to practice or something that's fine too. We're all here for you no matter what.”

Allura's smile becomes a little more genuine, and it's all Shiro could ask for. He opens his mouth to ask her if she wants to train with him, but the words die in his mouth when Kolivan strides through the doors with a grim expression.

“ I have news that I thought you two should hear first,” he says, and the tone of his voice sets Shiro on edge.

“ Go on,” Allura says.

Kolivan frowns. “Your friend was involved in an altercation between two officers and he was injured.” He stops, almost hesitant, and straightens his back. “There is a high chance he won't survive it.”

 

* * *

Shiro isn't sure he feels anything while they wait for news on Keith. He doesn't react even when Kolivan tells them he had to shut down all communications with his agents for the time being.

He says something about a purge of some kind, that Zarkon has gone on a warpath against his own people. Shiro doesn't pay much attention to it, though he supposes it's good for Keith that Zarkon doesn't appreciate him being hurt.

Someone should take revenge on Keith's behalf.

Shiro just wishes it could be him.

 

* * *

It takes nearly four weeks for Kolivan to come to them with news of Keith, and Allura calls them all to the lounge to hear what he has to say.

Shiro crosses his arms and stays on the side lines. He doesn't know how this will go, and the look on Kolivan's face tells him nothing. Shiro supposes all he has to do is keep himself collected until he gets a chance to escape the situation if—

He shakes his head. He's not going to think like that.

“ Your friend survived the attack,” Kolivan starts, and Shiro breathes a sigh of relief. “But the witch Haggar has changed his appearance to be more Galran.”

The floor seems to disappear from under Shiro's feet.

“ She did what?” Hunk glances around the room. “Why would she do that?”

“ I don't know, but it is the least of your friend's worries. The man who attacked him has demanded his execution be carried out on the Arena through combat, and he has demanded Keith as his challenger. The Emperor cannot deny him, but my source tell me he is stalling, though he is unsure as to why,” Kolivan says.

“ Can we get Keith back before that?” Matt asks.

Kolivan frowns, but considers it. “The vessel Keith is on is deep in the Empire territory, and attacking it is too dangerous.” His frown deepens. “Unless we strike at the perfect moment.”

Everyone straightens up.

“ What do you mean?” Allura asks.

Kolivan crosses his arms. “There is a fluctuation in the fleets surrounding the vessel Keith is on. The fleets are not quite as close to the vessel at all times, and if we were to strike when they are furthest away, we would gain several ticks if not more to get your friend and get out.”

Shiro steps forward. “You're talking about a timed attack.”

“ Yes,” Kolivan replies, “it would be wise to practice our attack until we can be sure we can get past the security surrounding the vessel, the Witch, Zarkon, and the security on the vessel itself, as well as their defensive and offensive capabilities in the time frame we have.”

A contemplative silence falls into the room. It would be risky, and they would need a lot of practice and preparation, but it might be their best chance at getting Keith back safely.

It's worth a shot. It's not like they have anything left to lose.

 

* * *

The Blade has timed the fluctuations in the fleet surrounding the vessel Keith is on a few times already, but they still want more data before giving the Paladins any definitive time tables. They give Pidge the readings they already have, and she sets up a simulation so that she, Shiro and Allura can plan their attack.

Kolivan sends Rejya to help them, and Lance and Hunk offer their opinions as well. When Matt returns from his meeting with the rebels he joins the planning.

Eventually Kolivan concedes that they won't be able to get more information on the fleets maneuvering before Keith has to fight in the Arena, and Pidge assures him they have enough to come up with a plan of attack.

“ That leaves us with anywhere between three to five minutes to beat both Zarkon and Haggar, get Keith, and get out starting from the moment we open a wormhole,” Hunk sighs, his shoulders slumping. “How do we manage that?”

“ By practicing,” Shiro replies. “Any ideas on how to pull this off?”

 

* * *

They come up with a simple plan.

They will open a wormhole and go through it with the Lions, and Coran will be their backup with the Castle ship. They decide to forgo forming Voltron, trusting they can distract the ships weapons and Zarkon for long enough for Pidge to get Keith and Kolivan's agent off the ship.

The rebellion has offered to help, and though Shiro mentions Zarkon and even Haggar's magic, he doesn't dwell on the details. It wouldn't help anyone to get them scared of what's to come. Cautious, yes, but not scared.

They don't get a chance to test their plan against an actual Galra battle cruiser, but Allura calls their allies for help, and they get a close approximation of one, even if only in size. The Blade helps them install a few Galra designed defensive shields to key locations of the ship, but they can't find a good approximation of their weapons.

“ We'll just have to pretend,” Pidge says. “We know how much damage a Galra weapon can do, we just need to do a few calculations.”

It's as good plan as any, and they do the same exercise over and over again until they are ready to give up.

“ We won't get Keith out safely unless the Galra fleets take more than five minutes,” Lance complains, “and we're not even accounting for the witch.”

“ We can do it. We're just gonna have to hope we have a little luck in our side,” Shiro counters.

They have to be able to get Keith out of there.

 

* * *

Allura tries not to be scared of her newfound magic, but after what happened — after Shiro nearly died because of her — it's hard.

She talks with Lance about it after he corners her and asks her what's wrong. She tells her how she worries she might have a connection to the druids, and Lance does everything in his power to assure her that that's not the case. That she's a good person and she's nothing like the druids.

“ Maybe you should try to control your powers instead of being afraid of them,” Lance suggests one morning over tea, and she smiles at him and nods.

It's a good idea, and she’d entertained the idea ever since Shiro had mentioned it. It's something her father might have suggested, and Allura feels a little better. She thinks about it, and she wonders if she could ask Lance to help her.

Or Shiro. Perhaps his experience with having to learn to use the prosthetic arm the Galra had forced on him would be helpful, as long as Shiro is comfortable with it, that is. She will have to be courteous when she asks him about it, and she spends one evening thinking of different ways of bringing it up with both Shiro and Lance.

Her plans fall short when Kolivan sends them a picture of four Galra, one of which they are all shocked to realize is Keith.

He looks so different. Happy. Comfortable.

Galra.

Shiro doesn't say anything, but darkness clouds his expression and he leaves the bridge without a word.

Lance clears his throat. “Maybe we shouldn't go get him back,” he says, his voice hesitant, and for just a second too long no one disagrees with him.

“ He's one of us though,” Hunk points out, but the damage has already been done.

Allura frowns at the screen displaying the picture. Zarkon made Keith into one of the Galra, and he looks happy. Happier than Allura remembers ever seeing him.

Maybe they should leave him where he is. Zarkon has obviously broken him, and who knows what Keith would do if he were to be removed from the Galra. He might act as a spy to Zarkon. He might take the Red Lion and fly it to the heart of the Galra Empire where they would have no way of reaching it.

Allura doesn't voice any of her doubts, though. She's too ashamed to even be thinking along those lines. Keith is supposed to be part of her team.

“ We'll discuss this later,” she declares, and it's enough for the others.

At least for now.

 

* * *

Shiro wishes he had a proper punching bag to pound his anger and frustration on.

The picture Kolivan had sent them had seared itself into his mind. It shouldn't bother him so much, even if he now has visual proof of what Haggar had done to Keith and he can't pretend it wasn't real. It was still Keith.

But Keith had looked so happy, so comfortable with those people. Shiro can't remember ever seeing Keith look like that with anyone but him, and it hurts.

They were Galra. They shouldn't be able to put that look on Keith's face. It isn't fair.

Though maybe it's selfish of Shiro to want to deny Keith the happiness of having friends, even if they are Galra. Assuming that they are Keith's friends, that is, and not just people pretending to be ones under orders from Zarkon.

It's Pidge who drags him from his misery by telling him she's discovered a facility that might hold some importance to the Empire, but that's masquerading as a normal, unimportant outpost and mostly guarded as one. It gives something for Shiro to direct his anger at, and he joins the others to plot an attack on the facility.

 

* * *

The news of Keith's impending fight on the Arena makes them put their plans aside for the time being, and Shiro insists on talking to Kolivan alone for a moment. The others aren't too happy about it, but they let Shiro have his way.

“ Can you get me to the Arena?” He asks Kolivan as soon as the others have cleared the bridge. “I remember seeing non-Galran's in the audience when I was there. I could blend in.”

Kolivan frowns, his expression turning hard. “I'm afraid that's not a possibility. Perhaps Zarkon expected you to try to go there, since the event is only open for those who serve in the Galra military. You would be instantly recognized if you were to go there.”

“ Can we see a transmission of it, then? Maybe a newsreel?” Shiro tries not to be desperate, but it's hard. He wants to be there for Keith, he wants to be there every step of the way, so that there's someone in the audience that is there just to support Keith and not for the spectacle of the fight.

But Kolivan shakes his head. “Zarkon has declared the event one that will not be broadcasted on the usual channels, and no one has any information what channel they might be using, if any. It's unusual to say the least, but as long as the word comes from Zarkon no one questions it. If they are using the Empire’s internal channels we might not be able to hijack the transmission safely in short notice.”

Shiro's heart sinks. It feels almost like Zarkon is purposefully keeping him from being there for Keith.

“ Thanks anyways,” Shiro says, his shoulders slumped.

 

* * *

 

On the day of Keith's fight, Shiro doesn't sit with the others in the lounge for long. Instead he wanders around the Castle ship. His feet take him to the Black Lion, and Shiro studies her with a hard expression. He's not sure why he thinks it's a good idea, but he gets into the Lion.

He doesn't know what he's doing, but he sits in the Lion for a long time without doing anything. He could fly to the Arena and bust Keith out of there. He could land the Black Lion right there, in the middle of the Arena, and save Keith like Keith had saved him, and maybe crush Zarkon and Haggar while he's at it.

But he doesn't do it.

No matter how much he wants to save Keith, he knows storming the Arena would do more harm than good. He might not be able to save Keith and get them out of there, and then Zarkon would have the Black Lion and Keith would still be trapped, and Shiro would be back on Haggar’s table.

Shiro shuts his eyes and curses the world for not letting him just exist in peace.

Black shifts, her concern for Shiro becoming obvious, and Shiro sighs and apologizes to her. “Didn't mean to dump my problems on you.”

Warmth brushes against Shiro's mind and he smiles sadly.

Sometimes he still wonders what he did to deserve Black as his Lion. Sometimes he wonders if Black will realize she's made a mistake and stop listening to him.

A soft sense of reassurance comes from the Lion, and Shiro's smile turns a little bit more genuine before he remembers the danger Keith is in. There's curiosity from Black, and Shiro raises an eyebrow. “You're chatty today.”

Not that the Lion usually ignores Shiro, but they don't tend to have a lot of conversations.

Shiro thinks about it for a moment, then leans back and looks around the cockpit. “I just want to do something to help Keith. He's all alone. Someone should be there to protect him.”

Black remains an unreadable presence for a long moment. Shiro knows better than to take it personally. He doesn't expect Black to care about Keith like he does.

The sudden surge of violent protectiveness that hits Shiro makes him gasp. He doesn't recognize it. There's something alien about it, but Shiro knows it's not Black. It's something else — a memory. Something long lost and cherished only in private.

_ Zarkon _ .

The thought doesn't come from Shiro as much as it does from Black, and he sits there in dumbfounded silence for a long minute. Why should he care for some old memory of that monster, especially now?

Black falls silent again, and Shiro worries he's insulted her. He should've been more considerate. Black chose to share it with him, and he dismissed it out of hand. Of course she doesn't want to talk to him anymore. “I'm sorry,” he says, but gets no response.

Black grows distant, like she's not there but somewhere faraway, and Shiro waits for her to come back to him.

He prays Keith is alright and fears hearing what happened on the Arena.

He doesn't think he'll be able to stay in one piece if Keith dies.

 

* * *

It takes a day, but Kolivan send them a brief message saying that Keith is alive and well, and everyone on the Castle ship breathes a little easier.

 

* * *

Things return to normal, and though Shiro can sense the others are keeping something from him, he doesn't ask them about it. He already thinks he knows what they are thinking. He's seen it in their eyes for awhile now.

They are losing interest in rescuing Keith.

If Shiro puts his own feelings aside for a moment he can see why that is. None of them were ever as close with Keith than he is. They don't have the same kind of an emotional bond to him. Hell, they don't even know Keith.

Not that they are going to stop trying, Keith is still their teammate, after all. They aren't going to leave him, if only because none of them is going to seriously suggest the idea.

The only time Shiro worries he's about to be told that they should forget about Keith is when Pidge comes to him with a severe expression. “Matt and I decrypted some files.”

Shiro sits up straighter. “And?”

“ We think we have a facility in mind we could raid. It doesn't look like much —“ she shows him her laptop with the information she'd decrypted “— but there's highly decrypted transmissions sent from and to there, and the security grid is super high tech for a simple outpost.”

“ Good job,” Shiro says as he studies the screen, though he understands far less of the text than Pidge and Matt do. “Get everyone together. I think we should check out what that place is.

Pidge nods and hurries to get the others while Shiro stays behind, just for a minute, and gets his bearings back before heading to the bridge.

 

* * *

They head to the base a week or so later, after having planned their attack out. They had asked Kolivan if he wanted to join with them, but Kolivan had declined, saying there were other things that needed his attention.

“ Everyone clear on the plan?” Shiro asks, knowing the answer is yes but wanting the confirmation nevertheless.

His team gives him an unanimous yes, just like he expected, and they approach the security grid protecting the facility, with Pidge leading the way so that she can hack into it and disable a section of it for long enough for them to get through.

“ Is this going to to take long?” Lance asks.

“ Only if you don't shut up,” Pidge replies.

Shiro notes the slight tense undertone in their voices, but he doesn't comment on it. Not yet. He doesn't want to start stressing them out even further.

“ Got it. You guys ready?” Pidge's voice comes over the comms.

“ Yes,” Shiro replies.

“ No,” Coran cuts in, his voice tense, “you have a fleet closing in.”

Shiro curses. “Get the grid open and get through it.”

Lance lets out a noise of protest. “But we're not in —“

“ Now!” Shiro's voice gets everyone moving.

Pidge opens a hole in the grid and everyone but Shiro rushes through it. He's not going through until his team is safely on the other side. He's not risking leaving anyone behind.

The others get through the grid, but Shiro hesitates, and the grid falls into place before he can move.

“ Shiro!” Allura's distressed voice carries over the comms.

“ They'll follow you if they don't have something to chase,” Shiro explains calmly, “I'll distract them. You get in, see what's going on with that place, and get out. I'll keep the fleet at a safe distance until you're done at which point we form Voltron and kick their asses.”

Shiro doesn't tell the others that he came up with the plan as he talked. He doesn't tell them that he hesitated and didn't move fast enough. The others trust him, though, so they accept his explanation and they rush to do their part.

Shiro does the same. He takes a position near the facility, but not close enough to it to be obvious. He needs the others to have at least a few minutes before the fleet decides to see if the facility has been compromised.

As Shiro hoped, the fleet focuses on him. They fire at Shiro and he dodges and flies away, not fast enough to fully escape, but fast enough to stay at a more or less safe distance.

At least until a ship seemingly materializes out of nowhere blocking Shiro's path — that he starts to worry.

He dodges and weaves past the ships, trying to find a way to safety, but one of the ships gets a shot at him and he loses his momentum and course.

The ships surround him, and Shiro expects to either be attacked or forced into surrendering the Lion, or both. Well, Shiro's not going down without a fight. But the vessels do nothing but surround him, weapons at ready but not firing, and Shiro stays still. The tenseness is touchable, and Shiro has no doubt the Galra feel it too.

Then — to Shiro's horror — Black grows distant. Like she's not fully there. She's light years away, focused on something faraway and far more interesting than Shiro and the danger they are in.

“ Come on.” Shiro grits his teeth. He can't panic.

Sure he's surrounded by almost a dozen fully armed and ready to fire Galra battle cruisers in a Lion that has lost all interest in him, but there has to be something he can do.

He doubts the Galra are authorized to destroy the Black Lion. Zarkon wouldn't allow that. He'd never allow the Galra to destroy the Black Lion, he wants it back too much. It means too much for him, and as long as Shiro is in the Lion he has a chance of surviving. As long as he's in the Lion he can —

“ Shiro?”

The commline crackles, and Shiro blinks, his world coming to a halt. That sounded like... No. It can't be. Zarkon wouldn't allow it. He'd never let... He wouldn't allow it. Shiro must be hallucinating.

“ Shiro?”

But it's not a hallucination. That was  _ real.  _ That was... That  _ is — _

“ Shiro?”

Shiro swallows, the corners of his lips tilting up into a wobbly, hopeful smile. “Keith?”

A second, then, “hey.”

Shiro bites his lip and closes his eyes, and takes a moment to collect himself. He wants to tell Keith everything that's been going on and reassure him that rescue is coming. He wants to stay silent and listen to Keith talk.

He needs to tell Keith he hasn't been forgotten. He has to.

“ I — no, listen — I need you to listen, okay?” Keith's voice has an edge to it that silences Shiro immediately. “I need you to tell the others to fall back.”

Shiro frowns, not understanding why that would be what Keith is concerning himself with. “I don't —“

“ Just do it and I'll talk with you for as long as you want to,” Keith cuts in, and the desperation in his voice breaks Shiro's heart.

This matters to Keith, so it has to be important.

“ Okay,” Shiro says, and though switching the comm channel is the hardest thing he's ever done he calls the others.

“Fall back.”

“ What? Why?” Hunk's voice is confused, and the others make their protests too.

“ Just do it!” Shiro snaps.

“ Okay!” Pidge snaps back, and Shiro hurries to switch back to Keith.

What if he's not there anymore? What if Shiro has lost his chance to talk to Keith? What if — No. He's not going to do that.

“ Keith?”

“ Yeah?”

Shiro's never been so relieved to hear anyone's voice in his life. He exhales, the tension leaving his body in a way it hasn't since they lost Keith.

“ They promised to retreat right away,” Shiro says.

“ Thank you. How are you?”

Shiro smiles. He can’t help it. He missed talking to Keith, and it's such a normal thing to ask that it's almost absurd in their situation. “Fine,” he says as quickly as he can, fearing they don't have much time. “I — we miss you.”

“ I miss you too,” Keith says, “well, maybe not Lance but the rest of you,” he adds, an almost forced lightness in his voice.

Shiro still laughs, and his heart hurts when Keith laughs too.

“ Look, Shiro, I'm,“ Keith stops, and Shiro bites his lip while he waits for Keith to continue. “I know you worry but you don't have to. I'm fine. I'm safe. I've got friends, no one complains about my behavior or personality... I've been learning a new language. I went to a — what was it?“

Shiro frowns. Of course Keith isn't alone, but he didn't want to acknowledge it. Shiro can't fully make out the voice of the person Keith is talking to, but he knows it's Zarkon. Knows it from the way his own blood runs cold, and knows it in the way Black grows tense.

“ A spring market, and then I got dragged into a fancy dinner — they called it a night feast... And speaking of which you guys need to be more careful about what you do. You put a colony of innocent people in danger because you forced the Galra out of... I'm not sure which section, but it's not important. What's important is that there are raiders coming to the sectors after you and attacking everyone else who travels there.” Keith's babbling, and usually Shiro finds it endearing, but he can't shake off the knowledge that Zarkon is there.

“ I'll makes sure we're more careful,” Shiro promises, though he's not sure how much weight he can put on Keith's words. For all he knows Keith is just telling him something Zarkon told him, and Shiro is not going to believe anything Zarkon says.

For a second Keith is silent, and Shiro almost asks if he's still there.

“ How's everyone else doing?” Keith asks eventually.

Shiro hesitates, and he hates himself for it. He shouldn't do that with Keith. “They're fine. Pidge found Matt.”

Shiro's not sure if it's smart to admit, but Keith deserves to know that something good had happened.

“ That's great. She must be happy,” Keith says, sounding genuinely happy. “How's Red?”

Shiro grimaces. He's not sure how well Keith is going to take hearing Lance is piloting the Red Lion, and he hates being the one to tell him. “Red's fine, Lance is piloting it,” he says, still unsure if it's a smart idea to tell Keith the truth. “But Coran thinks it's just until you come back,” Shiro adds hastily.

Keith falls silent, and Shiro fears he's said the wrong thing. Maybe Zarkon didn't approve of Shiro saying that Keith would be returning to the Castle. Maybe it upset Keith. Maybe he should've kept his mouth shut and just enjoyed the chance to hear Keith's voice again.

Shiro wants to take it back and just have Keith talk to him about nothing and everything so that Shiro can forget they aren't together, just for a moment.

“ Looks, Shiro, I...” Keith trails off.

“ Yeah?” Shiro tries not to let his uncertainty be heard in his voice.

“ I need you to promise me something.”

“ Anything,” Shiro promises. It's easy and he doesn't hesitate, and hopefully Keith hears it too.

Keith takes a deep breath, and Shiro doesn't understand why he seems so heartbroken. “I need you to promise you won't come for me.”

Shiro's face falls, then he frowns. “What? No, Keith, we're not just going to abandon you.”

“ I don't want to come back there.” The harshness of Keith's voice makes Shiro balk. “I don't need to be rescued. I'm fine.”

“ Don't say that,” Shiro says, his voice tense. He shakes his head like it's going to make Keith's words go away. “Don't say that. Just... Don't think like that, okay? We're —“

“ I don't want to come back. I don't want to... Just let me stay here,” Keith says, and the harshness is gone from his voice, replaced with sadness, growing almost broken. Shiro swallows, the tightness of his throat making it hard.

“ Keith.” Shiro doesn't know what else to say.

“ Shiro, I —“ Keith falls silent, like someone interrupted him, and Shiro takes the opportunity to draw in a slow, deep breath to steady himself.

“ The others are still in the facility. They need to get out now or they'll die. You need to get them out of there.” There's a desperate edge in Keith's voice that makes Shiro sit up.

“ What's so important about that place?” He asks even as he tries to come up with a way to get the others out of the facility as soon as possible. If Zarkon is making threats against them and using Keith to deliver them, Shiro isn't going to let him follow through. And he'll make Zarkon pay for forcing Keith to be the one to make the threats.

“ Don't argue! Just get them out of there,” Keith snaps, and Shiro suspects Zarkon is preventing him from talking. “Look, I've got a friend there and I can't lose her. Do this for me, okay?” Keith's voice is more collected, but there's a desperate edge to it that Shiro can't ignore.

There's someone in the facility — a Galra — that Keith considers a friend. What had a Galra done to earn that from Keith?

“ I'll get them out of there,” Shiro promises, because it's Keith asking and he'd do anything for him. “Just tell me why it's so important.”

“ I can't. Just get them out of there, okay?”

Shiro wants to run his hands through his hair and maybe scream.

“ I gotta go. I'll talk to you some other time, okay?” Keith says.

“ Keith don't —“

“ Goodbye, Shiro.”

“ Keith please, don't —“

The line is dead, Shiro knows it, and he bites back a sob. Keith had sounded so broken and sad, and Shiro doesn't want that to be the last thing he hears Keith say.

He might cry, he's not sure. His eyes are burning and his throat is closing up, and he wants Keith back.

Back in his life, in his arms, in his soul.

“ If you do not clear your people out of  _ my  _ facility in the next ten dobashes I will authorize Haggar to kill you and everyone else in the entire star system.”

Black flinches at the sound of Zarkon's voice, and Shiro's sadness turns to anger. “Go to hell.”

“ The more you stall the less time you have, and while I will not mind seeing you and your people dead, I would imagine that is not what Keith wants. Should you fail to get your team out of there I will make sure Keith knows it was your fault, because you ignored  _ his  _ request, and  _ you  _ will be the reason one of his closest friends will be dead. I will make sure he hates you for it.” Zarkon's voice is dead serious, and though Shiro wants to call him names and threaten him, he has to keep his friends safe.

“ I'd need to get through the security grid,” he says, though he could very well just call the others and tell them to get out again. He just wants to give them a few more minutes to collect data.

“ I will lower it for you,” Zarkon replies, the pleasantness of his voice sending a chill down Shiro's spine. He knows Zarkon knows he doesn't have to get through the barrier, and he has no idea why Zarkon is cooperating so easily.

Maybe it's a trap.

“ Why didn't you just blow us up?” Shiro asks, not really expecting an answer, but he wants to get some kind of a sense of Zarkon beyond what Allura and Coran have told him, and what he's seen of his army. He's holding Keith prisoner, and Shiro has to get a better understanding of Zarkon as a person.

“ Besides the fact that I do not wish to needlessly destroy a facility of ours?” There's a hint of cruel amusement in Zarkon's voice, and Shiro scowls. “I do not believe Keith would have appreciated it if I had killed his former team and a friend of his just to get you off my facility. I imagine he appreciates this approach more. And should this end in your untimely death at least it will not be my fault.”

He's playing Keith. He's using Shiro to play with Keith, and there's nothing Shiro can do to stop it. All he can do is get his team out of the facility and make sure Zarkon doesn't get a chance to kill them all.

“ I'll get my team out of there, and then I'm gonna come for you, and I will kill you,” Shiro promises in a cold, hard voice.

“ You may try,” Zarkon says, not least bothered by the threat, “but if you are concerned about Keith, I assure you it is not necessary. I take care of what is mine.”

Shiro sees red, and he's about to start yelling at Zarkon when the ships still circling him drawback.

“ Eight dobashes,” Zarkon says, and Shiro forgets about yelling at him in favor of rushing towards the facility.

He gets as close to the entrance as he can, then runs through the hallways towards where he knows his team is. The few sentries still standing let him pass, and despite the creepiness of it Shiro is grateful for it. Zarkon must have arranged for a clear way for him.

He barges into the room where his team is and almost gets a staff to his face for it. Shiro ducks and hits the ground when the staff comes at his face again.

He's not in the mood for it, and he takes the third strike with his prosthetic arm.

The person wielding the staff is wearing armor like Shiro's never seen before, dark and sleek, with no insignia to tell their rank, and a helmet that's similar to the ones the Blade agents wear. The Galra twists the staff, and a shot of electricity hits Shiro. He falls back with a groan of pain, his muscles convulsing from the shock traveling through his body.

The staff strikes his head, and the shot of electricity makes Shiro's helmet short circuit, and Shiro scrambles to get it off.

“ Drop the staff, lady!” Hunk's voice stops the Galra from striking Shiro again, and Shiro glances at him, relieved to see he's got a weapon pointed at the Galra looming over him.

The Galra stays still, her attention on Hunk, and Shiro puts some distance between them before turning to face the others, putting on his sternest face. He can barely hold it when he sees Lance's singed armor and Allura sitting by Pidge's feet, her leg bleeding. Pidge is focused on the screen before her, though Shiro can't help but glance at the glass window right in front of her.

Hunk is standing a few steps from the others, and he doesn't look happy.

“ We are leaving. Now,” Shiro orders.

“ I'll be done in a minute,” Pidge replies.

“ This place won't be here in a minute,” Shiro snaps. “Haggar is going to blow this place up in a moment, and we need to be going.”

It gets everyone's attention. Even the Galra glances at him.

“ I could be done now,” Pidge concedes, and taps at the keyboard of her laptop a few more times.

She's in the middle of disconnecting the laptop from the Galra computes when a siren goes off.

Everyone freezes.

The Galra is the first one to move. She bolts to the computers, shoving Pidge out of her way hard enough to send her sprawling on the floor. Shiro rushes to her side and helps her back up.

“ Get Allura,” he tells Hunk, and turns his attention to the Galra, though he spares a quick glance at the window.

There's nothing but a bolted set of trap doors on the other side of the glass, and Shiro isn't sure what the fuzz is. “You need to call an evacuation of this place. I wasn't joking about Haggar coming here. You do know who she is, right?”

“ I know,” the Galra replies, her voice distorted by the mask. She doesn't stop what she's doing.

Shiro's about to tell her to evacuate the facility again when the trap doors on the other side of the glass jolt, and everyone stops. Even time seems to stand still for a second.

There's something like a shadow drifting — clawing its way out — from the minute cracks of the door. It's barely there but Shiro knows instinctively that it's not safe.

“ Pidge?” Shiro doesn't remove his eyes form the window.

“ Yeah?” She sounds as worried as Shiro feels.

“ Can you help her lock those doors again?”

“ Sure.” She hurries to the Galra's side. The siren stops wailing moments later, and before Shiro can ask what had just happened the Galra is bolting out of the door with her staff, leaving Shiro and his team staring after her.

The door hasn't even closed properly when Shiro gets his bearings again. “Let's go!”

He helps Lance wobble out of the facility and into his Lion while Hunk takes care of Allura, and Pidge runs before them in case the barrier needs to be taken down again.

They barely clear the facility in time.

 

* * *

Shiro sits in the lounge, leaning his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped and his head hung low. A dark frown mars his face.

Keith.

He'd talked to Keith, and he'd sounded... not like Shiro expected him to sound after so long under Zarkon's influence. He'd sounded unmistakably like  _ Keith _ , even though he'd been distraught. But it hadn't been because of Zarkon. No, it was because of Shiro, because of hearing his voice.

“ Shiro?” Coran's soft voice comes from the door. The others had taken one look of Shiro and given him a wide berth without him asking. Coran must have drawn the short straw and been sent to find out the cause to his sour mood.

“ I'm fine,” Shiro lies.

Coran steps into the room. “Are you sure?”

Shiro starts nodding, but the burning in his eyes and the shuddering of the breath he draws in too sharply betray him. He forgets about the nod and just hangs his head, his eyes glued to the floor.

Coran meanders to him, and sits by his side. “What happened?”

Shiro takes in another sharp breath. Coran gives him the time he needs.

“ I talked to Keith,” Shiro says after a long moment of silence, his voice dull and quiet.

Coran shifts, but he doesn't say anything, giving Shiro the chance to continue if he feels like it.

“ I don't know how but...” Shiro closes his eyes and shakes his head. “He told me to get the team out of the facility. He didn't tell me why, but I think it had something to do with that thing under the trapdoor.”

Coran nods slowly. “That would make sense.” He studies Shiro quietly for a second. “Are you upset because you heard his voice? It must have been an emotional experience.”

“ He said he doesn't want to come back here,” Shiro says. He's never felt so defeated in his life. Not even when he was being held by the Galra. He'd clung to the hope of getting back home someday. Even when he'd thought that he'd die in the Arena, he hadn't felt as empty as he does now.

“ That's Zarkon's doing. You shouldn't put too much weight on that,” Coran says, and Shiro wishes he could be as sure of it as Coran is.

“ Yeah. It just hurt.” Shiro sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “It's just that... he wasn't reading from a script or being forced to say anything. It was all him.”

Coran puts a hand between Shiro's shoulders, and it's a comforting weight that Shiro didn't know he needed.

“ What was he like?” Shiro asks, “Zarkon, I mean. What was he like before... this?”

Coran sighs, deep and heavy, and Shiro regrets asking. “He was respectable, but not very sociable. He was prideful and thought much more of his people than anyone else, but he was a good person at heart. He took care of his people and anyone he considered a friend. It's sad that the quintessence corrupted him. Alfor told him to stop, but he wouldn't listen anymore.”

Coran shifts towards Shiro, and Shiro sits up. “Zarkon used to listen to Alfor. He used to take his advice. The day he didn't do so anymore is the day the Galra civilization fell. It's such a shame, too. They might have had an ancient society, but it was finally becoming something better. Some said Alfor shouldn't have put so much effort into the Galra but he saw something worth helping in them.”

Shiro glances down. “Do you think he'd hurt Keith?”

“ I couldn't tell,” Coran replies, sounding apologetic. “Even back then he sometimes did things that weren't right to reach a goal, I don't dare to imagine what he's capable of now.”

Shiro nods. There's nothing else he can really do.

 

* * *

 

Once Allura's leg is healed, Shiro calls a meeting. The others demand an explanation, and without getting into details of his conversation with either Keith or Zarkon, Shiro tells them what happened.

The commotion that follows is something Shiro expected, but he refuses to give them any details, no matter how much they demand them.

Eventually the commotion dies down, and Allura calls Kolivan. “We were wondering if you could tell us who wears an armor like this.”

Pidge shows Kolivan a picture of the woman with the staff who had — according to Lance — whooped their asses all on her own.

Kolivan frowns. “Special division within the Galra military. They're highly trained elite soldiers, used for special missions. You're lucky to be alive.”

“ That's nice to know,” Hunk says, not sounding the least bit amused. “So what do we do now?”

“ We should figure out what that thing in the facility was,” Allura says. “It's clearly important to Zarkon. He had Keith tell us to leave, he would not have done that if destroying the facility was something he was willing to do.”

“ I got some data off of the computers,” Pidge says and glances at Matt, “we can see if there's anything about a shadow in there.”

“ No.” Shiro turns to the others and crosses his arms, “we are getting Keith back before we do anything else. We've left him there for long enough. He needs to come back home.”

The others share a look, but after a moment of silent debating they straighten up and face Shiro, and Allura takes a step forward.

“ Where do we start?”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm going to be posting chapters to this as the main story progresses, so that this doesn't become one giant spoiler fest.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this first part, the next one should be up sometime between chapters 15 and 20.


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